Apple Tree House
by Lolita Lolly Lips
Summary: They'd been moved around from care home to care home since they were seven years old. Feliciano hadn't spoken a word since that day.
1. Anytime Anywhere

3:27

The red glow of the numbers on the clock was the only thing akin to light in the small room.

A trembling young boy stood over his sleeping counterpart, tears falling freely from his half-lidded eyes. He gently tugged on the blankets that covered his brother in attempt to wake him.

The elder of the two pulled himself into a sitting position, no longer asleep. "What the fuck are you doing, Feliciano?" He yawned, rubbing his eyes. "Go back to bed."

Feliciano brought a shivering hand up to his mouth, positioning the tip of his thumb against his lips.

With a sigh, his brother moved over and pulled back the quilt for the younger to join him.

Without another sound, Feliciano climbed into bed and cuddled as close to his brother as possible, his thumb slipping past his lips.

The elder scoffed in response. "You're too old to be sucking your thumb." He pulled the blankets over himself and his brother, settling down to sleep.

Feliciano, on the other hand, couldn't sleep. He just clung to Lovino desperately. Eventually, after about an hour of crying, he finally drifted off.

The next day was one that neither of the Vargas brothers were looking forward to. That day, they were moving. Again. They'd been moved around from care home to care home since they were seven years old. Feliciano hadn't spoken a word since that day. Lovino, on the other hand, never hesitated to voice his opinion on the fact that they could never just be in one place, or anything for that matter.

It was partially Lovino's fault that they had to move so much. There were very few care workers who could handle the eldest Vargas, and the ones who could soon ran out of patience. They'd never been in one home for longer than three years.

Pretty much every home they had been in would have been happy to have kept Feliciano. He was quiet, helpful and well behaved, but he didn't want to be anywhere without his brother, and it was awfully cruel to separate them. Not that social services hadn't tried. It was thought that if the twins spent time apart, Lovino may calm down a little, and Feliciano may become more independent. Of course, Lovino wasted no time in telling those at the meeting that they were all a bunch of stupid bastards, and if they ever tried to separate them, they'd regret it. So, that plan went out the window.

Within two hours of getting up the next morning, the boys were in the back of their social worker's black car, driving to their new home.

"I'm sure you're going to love your new home!" chirped Anna, their social worker.

Lovino raised an eyebrow. "Are you taking us back to Nonno?" he asked. He felt Feliciano's grip on his hand tighten.

Anna sighed. "Lovino, we've been through this. You know why we can't do that..."

The eldest Vargas just scoffed and stared out of the window. "We'll hate it, then." he retorted.

The rest of the ride was silent, save for the car's engine and the quiet sounds of Feliciano sucking on his thumb.

"Here we are." beamed Anna, pulling into the driveway of yet another care home.

The sign read "Apple Tree House." Lovino didn't care.

The building was painted a nice pale green with red windowsills. Lovino didn't care.

All sorts of different plants lined the walls, each with nametags of the children that resided in the house. Lovino didn't care.

The entire place seemed welcoming. Lovino still didn't care.

Lovino glanced around the place as he was guided inside and he had to admit, it looked nice... '_but it isn't Nonno's house..._'

"Hello~" cheered their new head care worker, an overly cheerful dark-haired woman in her late thirties. "You must be Lovino and Feliciano. Please call me Jenny!" she introduced, that sickly smile never leaving her face. "Right, let's go and meet the other kids, shall we?"

Jenny led the way into the large common room, where the children who resided at the house were gathered. "Everyone," Jenny called, "These are our newest residents, Lovino and Feliciano."

Countless pairs of eyes stared at the twins. Judging them.

Feliciano kept himself hidden behind his brother, still sucking his thumb. Lovino, on the other hand, sent a quick glare around the room, warning everyone with his eyes.

Jenny, having not seen Lovino's glare, kept smiling. "I'm sure you two will make friends quickly." She said.

She was wrong.

The twins didn't want to make friends with any of the home's residents. Whenever anyone tried to talk to them, Feliciano would hide behind Lovino and Lovino would glare.

However, one day, when Lovino had been called into the office, one boy managed to catch Feliciano on his own.

The youngest Vargas was sat at the dining room table, sketching quietly when he heard someone walk in.

"So, which one are you?" Asked an American accented voice.

Feliciano looked up, putting down his pencil. He'd seen the boy in front of him a few times. Blonde hair with a gravity defying flick, blue eyes behind vintage glasses, a bomber jacket with the number "50" printed on the back. This was Alfred F Jones. Feli wished Lovino was there, so he could cower behind him. But since he couldn't, he settled for putting his thumb in his mouth.

Alfred laughed lowly. "Oh, you're _that_ one. Aren't you a bit old to be sucking you thumb?" He asked, folding his arms. He glanced over at the small whiteboard that Jenny had got for Feliciano, to help him communicate. "Why don't you talk?"

Feliciano didn't respond.

"And why do you always hide behind your brother? That's pretty fucking pathetic if you ask me."

Feliciano cast his glance downwards, not wanting to meet the American's gaze.

"That's why no one is asking you." came a heavily German accented voice.

Feliciano's head snapped up and he looked towards the doorway. He recognised this boy too. Blonde hair neatly slicked back, piercing blue eyes... this was Ludwig Beilschmidt. In all honesty, he scared Feliciano to death, but he'd never been anything but kind to him, so he really had no reason to fear him.

Alfred scoffed, folding his arms. "What's it got to do with you?" he snapped.

Ludwig glared. "Just fuck off, Jones!" he growled.

Said American rolled his eyes and left. Nobody wants to be on Ludwig's bad side.

Feliciano grabbed his marker and scribbled 'Thank you' on his board.

Ludwig gave an awkward smile and sat down across from the Italian. "Don't worry too much about Alfred." He said. "He talks big, but he couldn't hurt anyone if he tried. I'm Ludwig, by the way."

Feliciano wiped his board clean with his sleeve, before writing 'Feliciano' and doodling a little smiley face.

Ludwig opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the elder Vargas.

"What the hell are you doing to my fratello?" yelled Lovino, rushing into the room and wrapping protective arms around his younger brother.

Ludwig attempted to answer him, but wasn't given a chance before Lovino started shouting again.

"Don't you ever come near my baby brother ever again, you stupid potato bastard! He doesn't want to-" he stopped ranting when he felt gentle tugs on his sleeve. He glanced down to see Feliciano holding up his board.

'He saved me!'

Lovino glared back at the German after reading Feli's board. His defensive hold loosened slightly, only slightly, and he gave a thoughtful hum. "You're off the hook for now." He said. "But I still don't want you around my brother." And with that, he dragged Feli up to their room.

Ludwig blinked. '_What on earth just happened?_' He thought.

Once the twins had gotten into their room, Lovino pushed Feliciano onto his bed and folded his arms, glaring at his brother.

Feli put his thumb in his mouth, staring up at his brother with wide, innocent eyes.

Lovi sighed. He hated it when Feli used the eyes. "Well," he mumbled. "I was going to lecture you about getting so friendly with strangers, but I guess I should really read what you have to write first?"

Feliciano grabbed his marker and quickly scribbled a few words onto his board. 'Alfred was being really mean to me and Ludwig told him off, so I was just saying thanks. I thought we could be friends.'

Lovino re-read the last part about three times, before making a noise of frustration and seating himself next to his brother. "How many times do I have to tell you?" He pulled Feliciano against his chest in another protective hug. "We have each other. We don't need anyone else." He sighed, nuzzling into his brother's soft hair. He knew it was selfish to not want his brother to make friends, but he didn't want to loose him. No one was going to take his Feli away.

Feliciano nodded, his thumb still in his mouth. He let his eyes close, feeling calm and safe in his brother's arms. It took him all of twenty seconds to fall asleep.

* * *

**End Note: Naughty Lolly started another new series before finishing the ones she has on the go again… I'm sorry! This idea was chewing my head, and I finished writing it last night. I also have two others that I'm writing and two that are nibbling my brain cells.  
Anyway, I hope you guys liked the first chapter/preview of Apple Tree House, if you liked let me know because I will not be continuing this unless I know that people like it. I also want to apologise for making Alfred such a douche…  
Right, enough from me, I hope to hear from you guys soon  
****The song for this chapter is Anytime Anywhere by Sarah Brightman.**

**~Lolly xXx**


	2. iNSaNiTY

You know how every school seems to have a 'gang'? Well, it's the same with care homes. The gang at Apple Tree House were known as the Bad Touch Trio, made up of Francis Bonnefoy, Antonio Fernandez Carriedo and Gilbert Beilschmidt.

The Bad Touch Trio have been attached at the hip since they met. Francis was the first to arrive at Apple Tree House when he was six. Then, a year later Antonio turned up. The two seemed to make friends instantly. Another year passed before Gilbert was brought to the care home with his little brother, Ludwig. Gilbert was reluctant to make friends first, but Francis and Antonio wouldn't take no for an answer and, eventually, the third member of their group was recruited.

It had been Gilbert's idea to read everyone's case files. After a few good hours of reading, the trio knew everything about everyone, and every time Apple Tree House got a knew resident they snuck into the office, picked the lock on the filing cabinet and made sure that they memorised every last detail.

However, it had been two weeks since the Vargas twins had moved in, and the Bad Touch Trio had yet to get their hands on the boys' case file.

Antonio sighed, tipping his head backwards and staring out of the window upside down. The Vargas boys were playing badminton out in the garden. "I wonder what Lovi's favourite colour is." He muttered.

Gilbert and Francis rolled their eyes. All Antonio seemed to talk about lately was the eldest Vargas. The Spaniard had called it love at first sight. Gilbert and Francis had called it a creepy obsession.

"When are we going to read his file?" Antonio whined, turning over to watch the twins play the right way up.

"Tonight." said Gilbert. "I'll be able to get access to the cabinet tonight."

They had to wait until eleven to try and get into the office. Jenny always goes to bed at exactly ten thirty, so they'd give her half an hour to get to sleep. The only worker who stayed at the house was Yekaterina, who was a former resident and a pushover, so even if they did run into her she'd give them no trouble.

The office was left unlocked. Jenny, as lovely as the woman was, was a total butter brain. However, the cabinet remained firmly locked. Good thing Gilbert knew where Jenny kept the keys.

The trio flicked through the files, frowning when they each read their own names. They had decided long ago that they would never read each others files. Gilbert had said that if there was something they wouldn't tell, the others didn't need or want to know.

"Found it!" exclaimed Francis, pulling out a rather heavy, thick file.

Antonio snatched it off him and opened it onto the first page.

_**Individual Assessment with Lovino Vargas.**_

_From the beginning of the assessment, Lovino showed some aggressive tenancies._

_For emerging personality patterns, Lovino scored to a clinically significant level for introversive and inhibited. Lovino will often be apathetic, listless, distant and asocial. He will tend not to get emotionally involved with others, not really avoiding them, but feeling indifferent about having them around._

_In relation to inhibited, Lovino will often be quite shy or ill at ease with others. He is likely to feel the desire to be close to others but has learned that it is better to keep his distance and not place much trust in the friendship of others. The case papers indicate that Lovino has had some trouble relating to his peers and this is consistent with his case file. Although he is likely to feel lonely, he will avoid close contact, fearing rejection and tending to keep his strong emotions to himself. In clinical assessment, Lovino expressed his closeness to Feliciano. He could not account for this connection, but, in my view, Feliciano would be an unthreatening figure._

_Lovino will be harsh and seemingly uncaring in his relationships with others where he allows them to occur. He will be reluctant to assert himself and will avoid taking the imitative of a leadership role. He will be likely to be quite dependent and to exhibit clingy behaviour and fear of separation, as we have witnessed with Feliciano on numerous occasions. Typically he will play down his achievements and underestimate his own abilities._

_Although Lovino will desire close relationships, he will fear seeking these actively in case of being let down. He will value the ones he has and become somewhat dependent on them. If these relationships fracture, it will encourage him to more introverted behaviour._

_For expressed concerns, Lovino scored to a clinically significant level on self-devaluation and peer insecurity. Lovino is likely to have a sense of who he is, but to be very dissatisfied with that self image. He is likely to express his low self esteem, to find little to admire in himself and fear that he will fall far short of what he aspires to be._

_In relation to peer insecurity, Lovino is likely to experience dismay and sadness about being rejected by his peers. He will want their approval but often be unsuccessful in attaining it, making him likely to withdraw and become even more isolated._

_For clinical syndromes, Lovino scored to a clinically significant level for depressive affect. He is likely to be showing a decreased level of activity distinct from that he has had in the past. He is likely to be less effective, have feelings of guilt and fatigue and a tendency to be despairing about the future, to be socially withdrawn, have low confidence and lessened feelings of adequacy and attractiveness._

_My analysis provides noteworthy responses that are helpful in relation to clinical follow up. Lovino responded true to the following:_

_Acute distress: 'I often feel sad and unloved'; 'I sometimes feel very unhappy with who I am'; 'I get very frightened when I think of being all alone'; 'Little things seem to depress me'; 'My future seems hopeless'; 'I probably deserve many of the problems I have'._

_Dangerous ideation: 'I sometimes get so upset that I want to hurt myself'; 'I've given thought to how and when I might commit suicide'; 'Everyone would be better off if I were dead'._

_Emotional isolation: 'Most other teenagers don't seem to like me'; 'I often feel that others do not want to be friendly with me'; 'I feel left out of things socially'; 'I don't seem to enjoy being with people'; 'I won't get close to people because I'm afraid they may make fun of me'._

_Lovino had a score of zero for minimization/denial, so his responses can be seen as valid._

_Lovino scored none to minimal for physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional neglect and physical neglect. He scored low to moderate for emotional abuse._

The Bad Touch Trio stared at the page.

"Oh, Lovino..." Antonio sighed, frowning.

Gilbert shook his head. "Damn, that kid is damaged..."

"I almost don't want to read Feliciano's." admitted Francis. "If this is how bad Lovino is, imagine poor Feli."

Despite this, Gilbert turned the page and they read Feliciano's clinical assassment.

_**Individual Assessment with Feliciano Vargas.**_

_Feliciano does not speak, so his responses were written. _

_For emerging personality patterns, Feliciano scored to a clinically significant level for introversive, unstable, submissive and inhibited. Feliciano will appear rather unemotional, although he will be less expressively impassive than others who are introversive._

_In relation to inhibited, Feliciano will be quite shy. He will feel the desire to be close to others but will not pursue friendships. In clinical assessment, Feliciano expressed his closeness to Lovino. He stated that Lovino was 'the only friend he had'. It is my opinion that Lovino may be the reason that Feliciano does not form bonds with his peers._

_Feliciano's scoring for submissive indicates that he will be soft hearted, sentimental and kindly to his peers, although he will not form friendships. He will be likely to be dependent and to exhibit clingy behaviour, although not as severely as Lovino._

_When asked why he didn't try to make friends, he responded with 'Lovino would be angry'. He refused to answer any more questions relating to the matter._

_For expressed concerns, Feliciano scored to a clinically significant level on peer insecurity. Feliciano is likely to experience dismay and sadness about being rejected by his peers. He will want their approval but often be unsuccessful in attaining it, making him likely to withdraw and become even more isolated._

_For clinical syndromes, Feliciano scored to a clinically significant level for depressive affect. He is likely to be showing a decreased level of activity distinct from that he has had in the past. He is likely to be socially withdrawn, have low confidence and lessened feelings of adequacy and attractiveness._

_My analysis provides noteworthy responses that are helpful in relation to clinical follow up. Feliciano responded true to the following:_

_Acute distress: 'I'm a somewhat scared and anxious person'; 'I sometimes feel very unhappy with who I am'; 'I get very frightened when I think of being all alone'; 'I feel jumpy and nervous almost all the time'._

_Emotional isolation: 'I often feel that others do not want to be friendly with me'; 'I won't get close to people because I'm afraid they may make fun of me'._

_Distressing thoughts: 'I am bothered by a thought that won't go away'; 'There are strange kids that are out to hurt me'._

_Post-traumatic stress: 'I keep thinking about something terrible that happened to me'._

_Miscellaneous: 'I have a lot of nightmares'._

_Feliciano had a score of zero for minimization/denial, so his responses can be seen as valid._

_Feliciano scored none to minimal for physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional neglect and physical neglect. He scored low to moderate for emotional abuse._

The trio turned the page again.

**_Observation of Sibling Interaction._**

_When it comes to Feliciano, Lovino's actions contradict his words. He will often say cold things, but follow them up with a hug or an equally loving gesture._

_Feliciano stays as close to Lovino as he can and becomes upset when they have to separate for any reason._

_Lovino seems to be able to understand Feliciano, despite the fact that Feliciano never speaks._

_Lovino is the only person who cam calm Feliciano down._

_The two spend most of their nights in the same bed._

_Lovino very much values his relationship with Feliciano and vice-versa._

_The twins have a very close bond and mutual need for one another._

_Lovino has a tendency to speak for the both of them._

_Lovino does not like Feliciano interacting with others._

That was as far as they read before Antonio closed the file. "I've been thinking." he said, out of nowhere. "How many times have we seriously upset someone because we knew stuff like this about them?" He was still thinking about one of the statements that Lovino had responded true to.

_'I've given thought to how and when I might commit suicide'_

Gilbert sighed. "Yeah." In all honesty, that statement had bothered him too. He sighed, tucked the file away and closed the cabinet.

"Okay," said Francis. "No more reading files?"

Gilbert and Antonio agreed, and the trio left the office, walking to their bedrooms.

* * *

**End Note: So, as you can see, this chapter is just a cheeky glimpse into the mental stabilities of our lovely protagonists. By the way, their assessments are just a clinical assessment I had done a little while ago, divided between them. And yes, I responded true to all those statements. I'm fucked in the head...  
****The song for this chapter is iNSaNiTY [Frost Mix] by cheezitsareyummy.  
****www. You tube watch ?v= KXwq 9DwNx xo (remove the spaces) Seriously, listen to it, it's lovely, and a bit heart breaking.**

**~Lolly xXx**


	3. Concrete Angel

**Right, I really should have put this in the first chapter, but I didn't, because I'm clearly a moron. But, this is a list of the house's residents and their ages.  
****Lovino and Feliciano Vargas - 15  
****Gilbert Beilschmidt - 17  
****Ludwig Beilschmidt - 15  
****Antonio Fernandez Carriedo - 17  
****Francis Bonnefoy - 17  
****Arthur Kirkland - 16  
****Peter Kirkland - 8  
****Alfred and Matthew Williams (they had their names legally changed to their mother's maiden name for reasons that shall be revealed later) -15  
****Yekaterina Braginski (former resident, now a care worker) - 23  
****Ivan Braginski - 17  
****Natalya Braginski - 11 (for the sake of this fic, they all have the same last name)  
****Kiku Honda - 14  
****Elizaveta Hédeváry - 16  
****Roderich Edelstein - 16  
****Vash Zwingli - 16  
****Lili Zwingli - 8  
****Yao Wang (former resident, now lives in a small flat close to ATH and visits regularly) - 19**

* * *

It had been three days since the Bad Touch Trio had read the Vargas twins' file, and Antonio could get Lovino's clinical assessment out of his mind. Has attachment to the boy (whom he had never actually had a decent conversation with) was bordering on the obsessive. Before, he'd just been friendly in passing, now he seemed to go out of his way to try an establish a friendship with the eldest Italian.

"Lovi~!" Chimed Antonio, rushing towards Lovino with his arms outstretched.

Lovino caught him by the collar, holding him an arm's length away. He was stronger than he looked. Much stronger. "If you even dream about touching me, you had better wake up and apologise." he hissed, throwing the Spaniard backwards.

Antonio stumbled, but caught himself before he fell onto his butt. He pouted. "I only wanted a hug..." he mumbled.

"Well, you can fuck off." was Lovino's harsh reply. He caught hold of Feliciano's wrist and yanked him out of the room.

Catching sight of Antonio's woeful expression, Elizabeta sighed. "You mustn't take Lovino's words personally." she advised. "He's that way with everyone."

Antonio nodded. "_Sí_, I know." he muttered.

* * *

Meanwhile, up in the twins' bedroom, Lovino was marching back and forth, complaining loudly about 'that damn tomato bastard and his touchy-feely ways'.

Poor Feliciano just sat on his bed and listened as his brother ranted. 'He wants to be your friend.' He wrote.

"I don't need friends!" Lovino all-but screamed. He folded his arms, digging his fingernails into his skin. "Feliciano," he took a seat next to his brother. "I need you to understand something."

Feliciano nodded, signalling for Lovino to continue. He wanted to grab hold of the elder's hands to stop him from leaving nasty, red scratches on his arms again, but he knew he'd probably make his brother worse if he did that, so he reluctantly let Lovino scratch off the top layer of skin. The marks weren't bleeding, but that wasn't the point.

"We're twins," started Lovino. "We're bound together by blood. Other people... people who don't share a bond like that with us will just end up dropping us when they got bored of us." The scratching got worse as he spoke. It must have hurt, but he didn't even flinch. "They don't need us. And we don't need them."

Feliciano wrote on his board. 'We used to have a lot of friends, fratello.'

As he read what Feliciano had written, Lovino's nails sunk deeper into his flesh. A thin line of blood dribbled down his arm, but he paid it no heed. "A bunch of kids we used to play with when we were four don't count as friends." he muttered.

Feliciano wasn't listening. He was too concerned about Lovino's bleeding arms. He got up and dashed out of the room, grabbing hold of the first care worker he could find. Luckily, it was Yekaterina.

Yekaterina Braginski was a former resident, and her two younger siblings still were. She was the nicest out of all the care workers and if something happened and you didn't want it to be reported to Jenny or placed in your permanent file, she'd keep it a secret, unless it absolutely had to be reported. Despite being something of a pushover, Yekaterina, or Katy, was excellent at her job.

When Feliciano grabbed hold of her and pulled her away from what she was doing (making a sandwich, she was hungry) she didn't even question it, she just let the little Italian pull her up to his room. She quickly realised why she was there when she spotted the blood dripping onto the floor. "I'll go get the first aid kit." she said, with a small smile. She left the room, returning a short time later with the small, green box in her hand.

She quickly cleaned up Lovino's arm, apologising when Lovino hissed at the sting of the antiseptic. She wrapped a bandage around the crescent shaped cuts, they may be small, but there were quite a few of them on each arm. "This is a warning sign of serious self-harm, Lovino." she whispered.

"Don't tell Jenny!" it was supposed to be a demand, but it came out as more of a plea.

Yekaterina sighed. "This might be one that I have to report." she stated, packing away the bandage roll and antiseptic. She sighed again, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I'll let you off this time, but if this happens again, I'll report it."

Lovino nodded, staring at the floor.

* * *

"'Will you walk a little faster?' said a whiting to a snail." Peter sang happily as he swung his legs, rubbing his blue crayon over a picture of a dolphin.

"'There's a porous close behind us and he's treading on my tail'" Lili continued the song, colouring her pony with a pink crayon.

"See how eagerly the lobster and the turtles all advance. They are waiting on the shingles will you come and join the dance?" The two finished their song in a two-part harmony.

Peter and Lili had been inseparable since the day they met. Peter had pointed out all they had in common (i.e. they were the same age, they both had on older brother, they were both in care, ect.) and Lili had decided that they must be friends. So they were. Simple as.

Their brothers, Arthur and Vash, didn't hit it off so well.

Actually, that was a poor choice of words, since when they first met, there was quite a lot of hitting going on. When Vash saw Arthur shaking Lili's hand, he punched him strait in the face.

They still didn't get on too well, but they did their best to avoid each other and let their siblings be friends.

"Want to know something interesting?" Asked Peter, exchanging his blue crayon for a yellow one. "Arthur told me that he overheard the Bad Touch Trio talking last night. Apparently, they've read our case files."

Lili froze, memories of her parents flooding back to her. "All our... Case... Files?"

Peter realised his mistake too late. "Lili!" He dropped his crayon and rushed to the girl's side, putting an arm around her shoulders. "I'm so sorry, Lili, I forgot!" He hugged the shaking girl tightly, cursing himself for bringing it up.

Burying her face in Peter's shirt, Lili sobbed quietly, willing the thoughts away.

_"Stay away from my sister, you piece of shit!"_

_All she could her was Vash screaming at him, the resounding smacks and her own pained cries._

_If he wasn't being held back, Vash would beat seven shades of shit into that detestable bastard! "Get the fuck off her!" He screamed, his voice raw from yelling. _

_When he finally managed to struggle out of that bitch's grasp, he launched himself forward, wrapping his body around Lili's in a protective cocoon. All he could think about was protecting his sister._

_The man who had the nerve to call himself their father kept punching and kicking them, not really caring who got the worst of it._

"I'll go get Vash." Said Peter, bringing Lili out of her flashback. He disappeared through the doorway, only to return mere seconds later with the Swiss.

Vash lifted Lili onto his hip, holding her close and stroking her hair. "Lili, stop crying, baby." He whispered. "We're safe now. He can't hurt you anymore."

Unfortunately, these flashbacks were common place for poor Lili. Sometimes they were so real that she actually felt what she was reliving. She even cut her hair short due to the memories of being dragged up the stairs by her pigtails.

She had at least two flashbacks a week, but they were becoming less frequent. She'd had counselling, but it didn't help.

After a few more minutes of weak sobs, Lili stopped crying completely. Vash kept rocking her slowly, rubbing her back in gentle circles. He kissed the top of her head, still whispering soothing things.

* * *

**End Note: You know when you start a story and decide the plot later? Well yeah, I've finally decided on an actual solid plot. This story is actually about Lovino slowly becoming more and more unstable. By the way, the rating may go up later, if you guys don't want it to, please say so. Also, each chapter is going to reveal a bit more about a character's past. Next chapter will focus on the Braginski clan.  
****The song that Peter and Lili are singing is The Lobster Quadrille from Alice in Wonderland.  
****The song for this chapter is Concrete Angel by Martina McBride.  
****~Lolly xXx**


	4. Bleed

"Natalya, you're getting a bit too big for me to carry like this." Said Ivan, shifting his sister's weight onto the opposite hip.

Natalya just whined quietly and clung tighter to Ivan's scarf, burying her face in his shoulder. She'd clung to him this way since she'd been old enough to walk (it had gotten worse since they'd arrived at Apple Tree House), and she clearly had no intention of stopping anytime soon.

Ivan sighed, attempting to place his sister on the ground. "Hold my hand, da?" he asked, trying to untangle Natalya's fingers from his scarf and lace them between his own. The younger of the two shook her head, clutching the material tighter than ever.

"Carry me!" she demanded, stamping her foot.

With another quiet sigh, Ivan lifted his little sister back onto his hip, trying to hold most of her weight on his arm. Not that she was heavy, but at eleven years old, she was too old to be carried everywhere.

Rather pleased at getting her own way, Natalya smiled, leaning her head on her brother's shoulder. "I love you, Ivan." She mumbled, closing her eyes.

Ivan carried Natalya pretty much everywhere he went. No matter how much anyone tried, no one could get her to do anything without her older brother, which was a major problem at bed time. They both had a room to themselves and Natalya hated that. She hated that she had to sleep alone. She'd had many a tantrum about it, but rules were rules and the bedroom arrangement stayed as it was.

"So, what are we playing today, Natalya?" Asked Ivan, setting his sister down when they reached her bedroom.

Natalya rushed over to her doll's house, pulling it wide open and picking up two dolls, handing one to Ivan. "You can be Molly." she said, turning to her doll's house.

The siblings played quietly for about an hour. Natalya became bored and wanted to play something else. She set up her puppet theatre and aligned a teddy bear audience, pushing and pulling Ivan out of her way.

They never got a chance to start. When Ivan had finally managed to untangle his puppet, a knock came and Natalya's bedroom door. "Ivan," Yekaterina poked her head round the door. "Yao's here."

Ivan put the puppet down and left his little sister's room, hoping the eleven year old wouldn't follow.

Yao was a former resident of Apple Tree House and Ivan's best friend. They had shared a room before Yao moved out. Although Yao was bound to be busy with University work, he always made time to visit the home, he owed so much to the workers there, and some of the residents too.

When Ivan was out of sight, Natalya threw her puppet on the ground, folding her arms.

Yekaterina frowned. "Oh, don't be like that, Nattie." She said, walking into the room. She picked the puppet up, untangling it's strings and smoothing it's platinum hair back into place. "I'll play with you." She took hold of the handle and made the marionette dance. Normally, the creepy wooden dolls scared the hell out of the eldest Braginski, but for some reason, the set of puppets owned by Natalya made her feel a nostalgic sense of happiness.

"You're not Ivan!" Snapped Natalya, snatching the puppet's handle out of her elder sister's grasp. "And be careful with Yvonne, she's still hurt after what happened in Belarus!"

Yekaterina's eyes widened. She knelt down beside her sister, tucking a lock of short, blonde hair behind her ear. "You remember Belarus?" She asked.

Natalya didn't answer. Instead, she made Yvonne, the puppet answer, nodding it's head.

"Are you still hurt?"

Another nod. "I dream about it sometimes."

Yekaterina was doing all she could to stop herself from crying. It was difficult for her, at twenty three, to deal with those memories. She could only imagine what her baby sister was going through. "Can you tell me what you see in your dreams?" She asked, a hand coming up to brush through the youngest Braginski's hair.

"I see mama." Natalya murmured, making Yvonne dance, sweeping her tiny, wooden feet across the carpeted floor. "And I see that man. The one that took mama and papa away. Then he takes you and Ivan away. And then he hurts us. All of us."

With a quiet sigh, Yekaterina pulled Natalya into a protective hug. "You know Ivan and I would never let anything hurt you, don't you?" She said, gently rubbing circles on Natalya's back. "We love you too much. Nothing will ever harm our little Nattie." She placed a kiss on her sister's cheek, weaving one hand into her soft hair, the other still moving in a circular motion.

Natalya nodded slowly, wrapping her arms around Yekaterina's neck. "I... I m-miss mama and... And papa, K-Katy." She sobbed, clutching her sister's shirt tightly.

"I know." Whispered Yekaterina, getting to her feet and lifting her sister up, holding the weeping girl tightly against her chest, which was a little painful considering the size of her... Assets. But Natalya was more important than a dull ache. "We all do, sweetheart. We all do."

"I want... I-Iva...n..." Natalya wiped her face with the sleeve of her cardigan, hiccupping quietly.

Yekaterina couldn't help but feel a little hurt by that. She knew her sister's reason for clinging to Ivan, when their father had been alive, Natalya was daddy's little girl, and Ivan was almost identical to their father, however, when Natalya clung to Ivan and essentially brushed passed her, Yekaterina couldn't help but feel a little... Unloved.

"Alright," said the eldest Braginski, turned and heading for the door. "Let's go find him."

* * *

Feliciano sat at the table, a folding photo frame in front of him. Every now and then he'd glance up to drink in his model's appearance, before beginning to sketch again. He didn't get to sketch often these days. It was times like this, when Lovino was busy with their physiologist, that he chose to spend with a pencil.

"Is that your mother?"

The voice behind him made Feliciano jump, almost dropping his pencil.

Ludwig stepped back. "Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you." he apologised.

Feliciano shot him a quick smile, picking up his marker and scribbling 'No problem x' in his whiteboard. He glanced back at the photo frame with a heart-rending expression. 'Si, that's my mama.' he wrote.

Ludwig took a seat next to the small Italian. "She's very beautiful." he noted.

'She's the most beautiful woman in the world!' Feliciano wiped his board clean and began sketching again. Ludwig watched him for a while, admiring his artistic skill.

After a while, Feliciano put down his pencil and started writing on his board again. 'Can I tell you something personal? Confide in you?'

Ludwig nodded.

'The night my parents died I begged them not to go out. I told them that I didn't want them to leave. They told me that they'd be back home very soon. But they didn't come back.' Feliciano showed Ludwig the bard, giving him enough time to read before wiping it clean with his sleeve and finishing his story. 'I was really mad at them for so long. First I was mad because they lied to me. Then I was mad because they died. Now I'm mad at myself for thinking that way.'

Ludwig frowned. "How old were you?" he asked.

'5'

"Practically a baby." said the German. "Don't be mad at yourself, Feliciano. Thousands of kids would have reacted the same."

Feliciano shrugged, tapping his marker against the board.

Ludwig sighed. "I don't even remember my parents." he admitted. "I can't remember anything since before I was eight."

Feliciano quickly scribbled his question onto his board. 'Why don't you ask Gilbert?'

"I've tried. _Bruder_ won't tell me anything."

'Don't give up.' Feliciano's smile seemed a little more sincere than usual…

* * *

"Gilbert," Ludwig's voice cut through the silence in the Beilschmidt brothers' room as he glanced up from his book.

Gilbert looked up from his PSP with an arched brow. "_Was?_" To say he was shocked would be an understatement. His brother usually never spoke to him while he was reading.

"I've just been wondering," started Ludwig. He'd tried bringing this up before, but Gilbert always changed the subject or ignored him. "Why exactly did we end up in care?"

The elder of the brothers tensed. "Our parents were a pair of cunts, that's why." He replied, unpausing his game.

Ludwig put his book back on his bedside table. "Yes, but what happened? What did they do?" He pressed.

"Look Lutz, leave it. I don't want to talk about it." Gilbert snapped, raising his voice slightly.

"_Bruder_, there are five years of my life that I don't remember, I-"

"You're lucky!" Gilbert interrupted him. "Do you have any idea what I would give to be able to forget all those years?"

Ludwig sighed. "I just want to know what happened that was bad enough for me to have blocked it out. It's unfair that I don't remember!"

"Yes. You're right. It is unfair. It's unfair that you get to forget, while I have to live with the memory of what happened to us. I have to remember all the nights that my baby brother cried himself to sleep in my arms, or all the times that I had to lie through my teeth about the marks on our bodies. It's unfair that you can have a genuinely happy life, while I will always have to put up this damn façade and be plagued by nightmares every fucking night!" Gilbert slammed his fist into the wall, his entire body shaking. He took a deep breath to calm himself. "Just count your fucking blessings that you don't remember, okay?" With that, he got up from his bed, tossing his PSP onto his side table (possibly breaking it, but he cared not) and stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind him. He leant against the door, clenching his fists, and for the first time in over ten years, Gilbert Beilschmidt cried.

* * *

**End Note: So, we got a sneak peak into the Beilschmidt brothers' past here, as well as the Braginskis. Also, there's no Lovi in this chapter *sad panda* I've thought up 3 endings for this fic, and they're frying my brain! So, I'm probably going to write the alternative endings too, instead of trying to decide.  
****The song for this chapter is Bleed (I Must Be Dreaming) by Evanescence.  
****~Lolly xXx**


	5. All Your Hate

"Alfred," Jenny's voice called from the doorway. "Can I have a word? In the office?"

Alfred pulled himself out of the beanbag he had settled in and followed the head care working into the office. Yekaterina was there, busily typing away on her computer. 'Writing up some kid's report.' thought Alfred.

Matthew was also there, sat opposite Jenny's desk and clutching his bear tightly. This could only mean bad news.

Jenny motioned for Alfred to take a seat next to Matthew, before sitting down herself and pulling a white envelope from the pile of mail on the desk. She held it out to the boys, waiting for one of them to take it.

"It's from him, isn't it?" asked Alfred, glaring lightly. Jenny nodded. "Then burn it." growled the teen, getting up and storming out.

Matthew bit his lip, tentatively reaching out for the letter.

Jenny gave a sad smile. "You don't have to, Matthew." she said.

Matthew's outstretched hand dropped. As did his gaze. He stared at his shoes for a while, burying his nose in his bear's head. "It's probably not even addressed to me." he mumbled. With that, he got up and followed Alfred out.

Jenny sighed, dropping the letter back onto her desk and flopping back in her chair.

Yekaterina glanced over to her co-worker, ceasing her typing. "I'll make some tea." she offered, getting up and leaving the room.

"Thanks." muttered Jenny.

In the kitchen, Yekaterina found the Williams brothers talking about the letter, and why the sender thought they would want him to contact them anyway. She did her best to ignore the conversation and went strait to the kettle, filling it and flicking it on before grabbing two mugs from the cupboard.

"I can't believe that bastard would even think about sending us mail after what he did!" hissed Alfred, slamming his hands down on the table. "He's the entire reason we're here!"

Matthew nodded, fiddling with his bear's ears. "But... he is our dad, Al." he whispered.

"I don't care!" Alfred all-but-yelled. "Can you honestly tell me that you forgive him?" He stared into his twin's averted eyes.

"Of course I don't! I never will."

Once the kettle was finished boiling, Yekaterina poured the hot water into the mugs and stirred both drinks, scooped the teabags out and added milk and sugar to both.

"He never liked me, anyway." Matthew mumbled, pushing his glasses up.

Alfred sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I don't think he really like either of us."

"Are you kidding? Alfred you were the golden boy. He totally favoured you."

That was as much of the conversation that Yekaterina heard. She exited the kitchen, mugs in hand.

Back in the office, Jenny had started on a report. She didn't even glance up from her computer when Yekaterina placed her mug on her desk. "Thanks, Katy." she muttered, typing swiftly.

"No rest for the wicked." laughed Yekaterina.

* * *

'Need any help?' Feliciano wrote on his board, holding it front of Elizabeta as she scurried around the kitchen.

The Hungarian just smiled. "No thank you, sweetie." she said, manoeuvring past him. It was her turn to clear up after lunch and, bizarre as it may sound, she really enjoyed it. She felt it prepared her for when she had her own house to take care of. She'd often relieve other residents of their chores, which made her rather popular in the home.

And in all honesty, Feliciano would probably just get in the way. He meant well, but was a little clumsy at times.

"Can we leave?" Snapped Lovino, folding his arms. "I have better things to do than sit in this freezing cold kitchen!" That was a blatant lie, and everyone knew it, but Feliciano let his brother lead him out of the kitchen, leaving Elizabeta to her chores.

Within ten minutes she had cleaned the kitchen from top to bottom.

"Working hard, Lizabelle?" Gilbert smirked, leaning against the doorframe.

Elizabeta ignored him, putting away the cleaning supplies and rearranging the mugs in the cupboard.

Gilbert frowned, tapping the toe of his shoes against the polished floor. "Ignoring me, Lizabelle?"

"You're scuffing the floor." was the Hungarian's response. She closed the cupboard and began wiping down the counter with a tea towel again.

Gilbert clicked his tongue, about to open his mouth with a snappy retort when Yekaterina put her hands on his shoulders, successfully frightening the shit out of him. "Jenny wants a word with you." she said.

With a nod, Gilbert left the kitchen and walked to the office.

"What has he done this time?" asked Elizabeta.

Yekaterina raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think he's done something?" she smiled, taking a seat at the table.

Elizabeta sighed. "It's Gilbert." she replied.

* * *

"I have your training placement." said Jenny, not even looking up as Gilbert entered the room.

Gilbert raised an eyebrow, taking a seat in one of the chairs opposite Jenny's desk. "I thought I was doing my training here?" he asked, pulling his legs up.

With a sigh, Jenny reached over the desk to swat his legs down. "I'm afraid that's not an option." she said. "You're too familiar with the residents at Apple tree House, not to mention your brother lives here. I'm sorry, but you've been placed at a different care home."

"Wait a second, I don't remember Yekaterina being placed in another care home." argued Gilbert, folding his arms in a pout.

Jenny shook her head. "Those were very special circumstances, Gilbert." she replied. She sighed again, running her hands through her brunette ponytail. "Look, it's only for two months, then you can come back and start work here."

Gilbert was still pouting.

"Gilbert, why do you want to become a care worker in the first place?"

"To help kids like me." he replied without even thinking about it. "I want to be able to actually do something for them. I can emphasise with them because I've been there. I've lived through it."

Jenny gave him a warm smile. "Don't you think all that is more important than where you train?"

Gilbert looked out the small window, thinking about this. After about two minutes, he sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right." he muttered.

With another smile and a clap of her hands, Jenny said "You're training starts next week"

* * *

"This place is worse than all the others!" growled Lovino.

Feliciano frowned. He wrote on his board, holding it up and tapping his fingernail against it to catch his brother's attention. 'I think it's better.'

Lovino just scoffed. "You would!" he spat, kicking the wall. "You're happy-go-lucky wherever the fuck you are! Well, let me tell you something, I'm the only one who gives two shits about you here!"

'Ludwig does!'

Bad idea.

Lovino clenched his fists, digging his nails into his palms. "No, he doesn't! Nobody cares about you, Feliciano! Nobody cares about anyone else but themselves here!" he yelled. He sighed, sitting next to his twin on his bed, pulling him into a tight hug. "That's why you need me. You need me to look after you. I love you, Feliciano."

Feliciano just nodded, shaking slightly. Lovino was starting to scare him.

* * *

**End Note: Sorry, I had to add a little Yandere Lovi there at the end. Oh Lordy, you guys! It's chapter five, already. I wish I could update my other stories this fast, but I'm just so in love with this fic! Right, I seriously have to get shit done with this, because I haven't so much as mentioned Kiku or Roderich yet. I think next chapter will start by introducing Kiku, go into his past a bit, and maybe get a Francis scene in somewhere. By the way, I've really thought about everyone's past, and I'd say Francis has the saddest of them all.  
****The song for this chapter is All Your Hate by Black Veil Brides.  
****~Lolly xXx**


	6. Mother

One, two, three, four, five, six...

Was there a point in counting all the dishes in the sink? Probably not, but he was doing it anyway.

People didn't think it, but Kiku in fact did have the ability to get bored, just as anyone else did. He was just so expressionless, no one could ever tell what he was thinking. Which was probably a good thing, because inside he was constantly screaming.

He'd seen so much in his short life. Too much. His past was bleak, littered with death. He didn't like thinking about it, but sometimes, he had no choice.

Looking at him now, nobody would guess that he used to be an extremely cheerful child. The sort of kid you see clinging to his mother's hand with a huge grin on his face, or laughing for no apparent reason. But that was before.

"You alright, Kiku? You're looking a bit lost." asked Arthur, flicking on the kettle. "Cuppa?"

Kiku politely declined and went back to counting the dishes.

Arthur shrugged. "Please yourself." He hummed to himself as he made himself a cup of tea, his hands moving like clockwork. He'd done this so many times.

Kiku frowned slightly. "Arthur..." he muttered, just loud enough for the Brit to hear him. "You and I are friends, right?" he asked.

"Of course we are."

"Then, do you mind if I ask you something a bit personal?"

Arthur quickly gave his tea one last stir and sat at the table opposite Kiku. "Carry on." he said, pressing the mug to his lips.

Kiku thought about his words for a while, before sighing quietly. "Do you remember your parents?" he asked.

Biting his lip, Arthur stared into his mug. "Yes. I do." he said.

"I hope this question doesn't offend you, but why are you in care?"

"I put myself into care." replied the Brit. "My mother was too busy filling herself with heroin to care for me or Peter and our older brothers lived with our father who hated us both from the moment we were born, so I packed our things, put Peter in his pushchair and made my way here." He stared off for a moment, losing himself in bad memories. He shook his head, sighing. "Would you be willing to answer the same question?"

Kiku nodded, but didn't say anything for quite a while. He just stared at the wall behind Arthur. "They were murdered." he said, finally. "In front of me. I was about four when it happened. After that I lived with my aunt for a while. She died about three years later, then I was put into care."

Arthur didn't respond immediately, he just sat there, listening. "Bloody hell, Kiku!" he almost yelled, but thought better of it.

"They thought I was too young to remember, but it's difficult to forget something like that." Kiku's expression never changed as he spoke. "Elizabeta sometimes smells like my mother. Same perfume."

"Have you ever spoken to anyone about it?"

"No, I-"

"Well, speak to someone about it." Arthur interrupted him. "The counsellor comes here for a reason, Kiku!"

Kiku smiled his usual fake smile. "It took a lot for me to talk to you about this, Arthur. I don't think I'll be able to talk to a stranger."

"Well then," Arthur reached over the table to place a hand on his friend's shoulder. Kiku visibly tensed. He loathed being touched. Arthur ignored it. "Consider this your first step." He removed his hand, smiling warmly at the Asian. "Eleven years is a long time to keep things bottled up."

* * *

Francis sighed, leaning forwards onto his folded arms. "Do you intend to spend the entire week on that thing?" He asked, glaring at Gilbert's (shockingly not-broken) PSP.

Gilbert nodded, biting his lip in concentration.

"You know, most people would spend the week with their best friends, you know, before they leave and don't come back for two months!" Francis complained.

Gilbert made a face. "I don't do emotions. They're unawesome. I thought you knew that." He continued to hit the buttons noisily, cursing when he messed up.

Francis lay his head on Gilbert's shoulder, pouting. "I'm just going to miss you, that's all." He said.

"Jesus, you and your abandonment issues!" Gilbert spoke before he thought, regretting it instantly. He put down his PSP for the first time that day. "Shit. Sorry, dude. That wasn't awesome."

Francis shrugged with a forced chuckle. "Two months can seem like ten years, is all." He attempted to joke, but his voice lacked mirth. He actually sounded like he was about to cry.

Gilbert put an arm around the French boy's shoulders, a rare show of affection. "I am seriously sorry, Francis." He said.

Returning his friend's hug, Francis tried his damn hardest not to break down.

"Am I interrupting a moment?" Jenny's voice was almost inaudible. "The head care worker at Saint Julia's is on the phone for you, Gil."

Gilbert nodded, untangling himself from Francis' hold and heading towards the office.

Jenny frowned, catching sight of Francis' red eyes. "Is everything alright, Francis?" She asked.

The French boy forced a smile. "Just thinking about my mother." He replied. "Not that she's thinking about me."

Jenny placed herself in Gilbert's previous position, sat next to Francis with her arm around him and his head on her shoulder. "I'm sure she thinks about you every day." She said, stroking his blonde hair in a comforting way.

"Then why hasn't she come to get me?"

"She's a busy woman."

Francis huffed, wiping his damp eyes. "Yeah, too busy for her own son." He muttered.

With a sigh, Jenny gave Francis a quick, tight hug. "C'mon," she said, getting to her feet and pulling Francis up with her. "You can help me with dinner."

* * *

"Come in." Elizabeta had been making her bed for the seventh time that day when a knock came at the door.

Feliciano pushed open the wooden door, stepping into the room. He smiled. Elizabeta's room always smelled of perfume. Not overpoweringly so, just enough to be sweet.

Hearing no one speak, Elizabeta turned, smiling when she saw the young Italian. "Hello, Feli-Fairy." She greeted. "Where's your left side?"

Feliciano raised a confused eyebrow, making Elizabeta giggle. "Your brother, sweetheart." She clarified.

'Counsellor.' wrote Feliciano. 'He has an appointment.'

Elizabeta nodded, sitting on the edge of her bed and gesturing for Feliciano to do the same. "What can I do for you?" She asked.

Feliciano hesitated before writing. 'It's about Lovi.' He showed Eliza the message before wiping the board clean with his sleeve. 'He's starting to frighten me.'

"Oh, baby." The Hungarian pulled Feliciano into a hug, raking her fingers through his hair. "You know how much he loves you, don't you?"

Feliciano nodded.

"And how much is that?"

Feliciano stretched his arms out as far as they would go.

Elizabeta chuckled. "That's right," she said. "And the rest." She placed a gentle kiss on top of Feli's head. "Just keep that in mind. Even if he's not himself right now, he'll always be your brother and he'll always love you."

Pulling away from the hug, Feliciano grabbed his board and wrote 'You remind me of my mama.'

"Aww, you little sweetie." Elizabeta smiled, kissing his cheek.

* * *

"How are you feeling today, Lovino?"

The eldest Vargas grit his teeth. He couldn't stand these sessions. "Same, s'pose." He replied.

The counsellor, who's name was lost on Lovino, leaned forward in his chair. "Anything in particular that you'd like to talk about?" He asked.

"Yeah," Lovino growled out. "Why is it that I have to see a shrink and Feli doesn't?"

"I'm not a shrink, Lovino. I'm a counsellor." Replied the counsellor, his voice keeping a smooth, soothing tone. "And you're here because the staff have reason to believe that you're distressed about something."

Lovino scoffed. "Yeah, funny how losing your family can do that to a guy." He spat back. "My brother is just as bad as I am. The kid doesn't talk!"

The counsellor nodded. "Let's talk about your brother." He said. "The staff have noticed that you're very protective of him."

"He's a fucking moron. He needs me to look after him."

"Does he?"

"Of course he fucking does!" Lovino's voice was raised. "He'd be utterly helpless without me."

The counsellor went back to his infernal nodding. "Have you ever considered that maybe you need him just as much as he needs you?"

"I don't need him." Lovino retorted. "I can cope perfectly fine without him, I just like having him around. We've been together all our lives, it'd be a shame to break the routine now."

"That's one way of looking at it." The counsellor pressed his fingertips together.

Before he could say anything else, Lovino snapped in; "That's the only way of looking at it!"

* * *

**End Note: What is it with me and sneaking some Lovi moments in at the very end? So, I've finally got Kiku, Arthur and Francis' pasts out of the way, I think I might try to get Antonio's past in next chapter. Or you guys can recommend who you'd like to see next, either way.  
****The song for this chapter is Mother by John Lennon.  
****~Lolly xXx**


	7. Goodnite

The following week sped by with little incident. Before anyone knew it, it was Sunday. Gilbert would be leaving for Saint Julia's in the morning.

"I can't believe you aren't going to be here for a whole two months." Muttered Antonio, drumming his fingers against the table.

Francis slapped his hand, silencing that God awful tapping. "We might actually get some peace and quiet." He joked.

Gilbert opened his mouth to speak, but Lovino's yelling made his point for him. He raised an eyebrow at the French boy.

"Yeah, point taken."

Antonio frowned, stretching over to see what Lovino was yelling about through the open door. All he saw was Feliciano rushing past, probably chasing after his brother.

Lovino had started to become worse lately. He spent most of his time in his bedroom, and when he was coxed downstairs, the littlest things would set him off and it took hours to calm him down. His counselling sessions had been increased, but he never said anything major. Just a few insults towards the counsellor, a declaration of hatred toward the home and everyone inside it and the odd random question.

And on top of that, Feliciano had begun acting strange. Normally, he didn't care if people saw his sucking his thumb, but lately whenever he caught himself with his thumb in his mouth he'd pull it out and sit on his hands. It wasn't just that, either. He seemed frightened all the time, and making him cry was a lot easier than before.

Gilbert sighed. "I'm really worried about leaving with all that going on." He admitted. "I won't have a home to come back to at this rate."

Whether he wanted to admit it or not, Gilbert actually cared deeply for everyone in the house, even Lovino Vargas, who apparently hated him. Him and everyone else. A care home is like a family, and he loved his family very much.

"Can't you at least try to tell what's going on?" Asked Antonio, peeking past the door again. "Come on Gilbert, you notice everything!"

Gilbert shook his head. "Not this I'm afraid. The Vargas twins have been all sorts of strange lately, not even Dr. Laurinaitis can make sense of them."

Doctor Toris Laurinaitis was a professor of psychology from Lithuania. He was the counsellor for care homes and schools in the area. He had done the initial report on the twins and was their current counsellor. Lovino hated him.

It's rare to find a psychologist who genuinely cares. Toris has been accused of caring too much. He had a habit of getting too attached to his patients, which has lead to many a tearful , even he was finding it difficult to form an attachment to Lovino. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get the teen to open up. As much as he wanted him to, he knew it was going to take something drastic.

* * *

Lovino wanted everyone to believe that he just had anger issues, and inside, he sincerely wished that were the case. But in reality, he was breaking apart more and more as the days went by.

The scratches on his arms had gotten worse, but he had practically begged Feliciano not to tell anyone, so he didn't. No one knew just how bad Lovino's mental state was getting.

After storming out of the living room, for a reason he can't even remember, he shut himself in his bedroom, sitting against the door with his knees to his chest so no one could get in, not even Feliciano, who was on the other side of the door, knocking timidly.

Lovino shook his head and buried his nails into his upper arms, but the sting that it caused was no longer enough. He rested his arms on his knees and pressed his upper teeth into the flesh of his forearm.

And it hurt.

It hurt so much that it brought tears to his eyes, but that didn't stop him. He just dug his teeth in deeper.

After a few moments, he pulled away, wanting to see the damage. He didn't make himself bleed, but he did leave a few angry, bruised tooth marks.

The knocking had stopped. Lovino wasn't sure when, but at some point, Feliciano had given up and left him alone. Which was good. Now he could get up off the damn floor, curl up under his quilt and have a good cry. What was he crying about? Honestly, he really didn't know.

* * *

Feliciano hadn't left. He was still stood outside the door, listening. When he heard Lovino get up he was about to open the door, walk in and give his brother the biggest hug he had. But then he heard it. The broken sobbing. The kind of crying Lovino only did when he thought Feliciano was asleep, and the night their parents died.

Reluctantly, Feliciano pulled away from the door and headed to Elizabeta's bedroom.

Feliciano always went to Elizabeta when he needed a hug. He would go to Ludwig, but he was a bit awkward about hugs.

He didn't make it to Elizabeta's room. He saw the Hungarian walking down the stairs and followed her, wrapping his arms around her when he caught up and making her jump.

"Oh, Feli." She smiled, putting a hand to her chest. "We should put a bell on you." She joked. All humour left her when she caught sight of the sullen look on Feliciano's face. "What's the matter, dear?" She asked, brushing his fringe out of his face.

Feliciano didn't have his board. He bit his lip, wondering how he was going to communicate without it. He settled for motioning up to his room with his teary eyes.

Elizabeta understood instantly. She sighed quietly and stroked Feliciano's hair. "I know you're worried about him, sweetie. We all are, believe me." She unwrapped her arms from around him and grabbed hold of his hand, leading him towards the kitchen. "Come with me, I think I know how to calm you down."

Feliciano followed blindly. He sat down at the table while Elizabeta got three mugs from the cupboard. She placed a teabag each in two of them, and a couple of spoonfuls of hot chocolate powder into the third. She kept glancing back at Feliciano while she worked, almost scalding herself with the hot water from the kettle.

When she was done, she placed the mugs, as well as a bottle of whipped cream from the fridge onto a tray and signalled for Feliciano to follow her.

She led him into the music room, where Roderich was sat in his usual place behind the piano.

The Austrian looked up with he heard the door open. "Oh, hello you two." He said.

Elizabeta smiled, placing the tray down on a table. She picked up the whipped cream and poured a generous amount over the hot chocolate, before picking the mug up and placing it in Feliciano's hands. She then skipped over to Roderich and whispered in his ear.

Roderich nodded.

Elizabeta pulled the armchair from the corner of the room over to the piano. She sat down, getting comfortable before gesturing Feliciano over to her and pulling him onto her lap.

Feliciano settled comfortably in the Hungarian's lap, his mug of hot chocolate pressed to his lips.

Aforementioned Hungarian smiled and nodded over to Roderich, who started playing.

He played out the intro to a song that Feliciano didn't recognise, but enjoyed. He closed his eyes, continuing to drink the hot, milky drink, getting cream on his nose.

Elizabeta took a deep breath and started singing in her soothing voice.

"_Goodnight, sleep tight,_  
_No more tears._  
_In the morning,_  
_I'll be here._"

Feliciano rested his head against Elizabeta's chest, managing to drip hot chocolate over her. She didn't mind. This was an old dress anyway and she only usually wore it to clean.

"_And when we say goodnight,_  
_Dry your eyes._  
_Because we said goodnight,_  
_And not goodbye._"

With a tired yawn, Feliciano tried to drink the rest of his hot chocolate before he fell asleep and dropped it.

"_We said goodnight,_  
_And not goodbye._"

Elizabeta glanced down, smiling at the sight.

Feliciano had fallen asleep with his mug resting against his lips and cream over his face.

"Roderich, could you please take the mug off him?" Asked the Hungarian, wiping away the cream with her sleeve.

Roderich got up and gently pried the crockery out of the sleeping Italian's hands, putting it back on the table.

"I made tea for you." Elizabeta informed him.

With a nod, Roderich picked up his mug and began to drink his tea. "I wish I could fall asleep that fast." He said, looking down at Feliciano.

Elizabeta giggled. "Me too." She wrapped her arms further around the boy in her lap. "You know what he told me the other day? He said I reminded him of his mother."

Roderich gave a weak smile, his gaze dropping to the floor. He detested the word "mother", but it was a difficult word to avoid.

With a frown, Elizabeta realised her mistake. "I'm sorry, Roderich." She whispered.

"Don't be." Roderich sat back at the piano, running his index finger along the keys lightly. "I don't remember her, anyway."

"It still hurts though, doesn't it?"

"Hurts that I wasn't a good enough reason for my mother not to take her own life? Yes, it does. But like I said, I was a baby at the time, I don't even remember her." He took another sip of his tea.

Elizabeta sighed, holding Feliciano closer. The past wasn't a good thing to talk about for anyone in care, but they seemed to end up talking about it an awful lot. "I should take him up to bed." She said, managing to get to her feet without waking Feliciano.

Roderich got up and opened the door for her, going with her to help. He opened the twins' bedroom door and crept in before her, pulling Feliciano's quilt back for Elizabeta to place him into bed and pull the covers over him.

She looked over at Lovino, who was fast asleep, as she suspected he'd be, with his left side hanging over the edge of the bed. She crossed the room and lifted him back onto the bed properly, tucking him in too.

With a smile, she turned and left the room with Roderich at her heels.

* * *

**End Note: So, you know how I said I was going to tell you a bit about Antonio's past? *Failure* Well, instead you got some Yandere!Lovino, some cuteness with Eliza and Feli again, a glimpse into Roddy's past and if you're looking for it, some AusHun. Next chapter shall be Gil's first day at Saint Julia's!  
****Another thing I wanted to say is, if anyone is effected by any of the issues raised in this fic and want to talk, you can message me anytime and I swear I'll answer. Trust me, I've been through a lot in my short life.  
****The song that Elizabeta sings and the song for this chapter is Goodnite by Evanescence.  
****~Lolly xXx**


	8. New Walls

Monday morning. 8 am.

Gilbert's taxi would be arriving in about an hour to take him to Saint Julia's. He'd already packed all the things he would be needing and was now just calmly eating breakfast with the other residents.

'I'm going to miss you.' Feliciano wrote on his board.

Gilbert laughed, patting the little Italian's head. "I'll miss you too, Feli-Fairy." he replied.

With a smile, Feliciano wiped his board clean with his sleeve and wrote 'Lovi and I used to live at Saint Julia's.'

"Well, I'll be sure to ask if anyone remembers you."

"They won't." snapped Lovino, who had been silent until this moment. "And even if they do, it won't be fondly. We caused a lot of trouble."

Why did everyone there feel that when Lovino said 'we' he had meant 'I'?

Without another word, the eldest Vargas got to his feet and left the room. Elizabeta called him back, but he was already out of earshot.

Feliciano jumped up and started after him, but paused when he heard his name.

It was Ludwig who called him back. "You don't have to blindly follow every time your brother decides to strop off." He said.

Feliciano glanced into the hallway with a frown. Lovino had probably locked himself in their room by now anyway, and there was no way in hell the he was going to let Feli in. So, reluctantly, Feliciano returned to the table.

* * *

Once up in his room, Lovino shut the door and sat on his bed in total silence for five minutes.

Nothing happened.

Why did nothing happen?

Why didn't Feliciano follow him?

"No." He growled to himself. "No. No! _No_!" Feliciano was supposed to follow him. Why wasn't he here?

Lovino curled up on his bed, hugging his knees to his chest and digging his teeth into his arm as hot, angry tears spilled from his eyes.

Feliciano needed him, didn't he?

But what if he didn't need him anymore?

Well, he had the German bastard as a friend now, didn't he?

What if he'd replaced him?

What if Feliciano didn't love him anymore?

Each unpleasant thought caused Lovino to clench his jaw a little bit more, burying his teeth deeper into his arm until he felt the skin break and tasted the metallic tang of blood flow into his mouth.

He pulled his mouth away from his arm, watching the blood trickle over his skin and drip onto the covers of his bed.

Actually, upon closer inspection, he was lying on Feliciano's bed.

Good. Served that traitorous bastard right! How dare he sit around the table and have fun with his so-called friends instead of comforting his own brother in his time of need!

More tears poured down his face as he watched his blood stain his brother's sheets.

It was around this time that Lovino realised that he was broken.

And he could not be fixed.

* * *

Gilbert's taxi turned up at exactly 9 am, giving Gil about enough time to rush up to his room, grab his suitcase and shoot out of the door. Once he'd packed his case into the boot, he turned around walked strait into a hug. Unintentionally, of course.

"Antonio, what did I tell you about emotions?" he grumbled, untangling himself from the Spaniard's embrace.

Antonio pouted. "Sorry, mi amigo. But I am going to miss you." he replied.

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "I'll only be gone for two months. Jeez, why is everyone so clingy?" he complained.

"Oh, I wonder." chuckled Francis. "I wonder why people who grew up in a care home might be a bit clingy to people they care about."

"Point taken."

The trio shared a brief chuckle before Gilbert caught sight of the annoyed looking taxi driver. "I should go, or I fear the cabbie may make my journey a particularly unpleasant one." He slid into the backseat of the taxi and waved goodbye as the driver pulled away.

* * *

While Gilbert was saying his goodbyes, Ludwig was in his room. Not sulking. He and Gilbert had another argument last night and he wasn't in the best of moods with his elder brother.

Feliciano had snuck up to try and coax him down, but to no avail. 'Aren't you going to say goodbye to Gilbert?' he wrote.

Ludwig just shook his head.

'But he's your fratello.' Feliciano frowned.

"He's also an asshole." Ludwig growled.

Feliciano's powers of persuasion were failing. But he wasn't going to give up. 'You aren't going to see him for 2 months.' He wrote, letting Ludwig read it before clearing his board and writing again. 'You can't let him leave on a low note!'

Ludwig scoffed, turning away. "Watch me." He grumbled.

Looking out the window, Feliciano saw Gilbert's taxi drive away. He frowned and left the room.

* * *

It was a thirty minute ride from Apple Tree House to Saint Julia's.

Gilbert was so glad when they finally arrived. The cabbie was a total creeper, and his topics of conversation made Gilbert slightly uncomfortable.

As soon as Gilbert stepped out of the car he was greeted by a short man with pale blonde hair dressed in light blue. Behind him stood a tall man in a darker blue suit.

"Welcome!" The short man chimed. "You must be Gilbert. My name is Tino, I'm the co-head here at Saint Julia's. And this is Berwald." he motioned to the man behind him, who looked up and acknowledged Gilbert with a curt nod.

Gilbert smiled, shaking Tino's hand. Berwald didn't offer.

Tino clasped his hand together, still smiling brightly. "Well, why don't you settle in and then you can meet the children." he said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a few reports to catch up on. Berwald will show you to your room." With that, he turned and headed into the building.

"D'ya need 'ny help with y'bags?" asked Berwald, looking over Gilbert with an icy stare.

Gilbert repressed a shiver. "Ugh, no. I think I'll be fine." he replied.

Berwald gave another nod and started to walk away. Gilbert assumed he should follow and, hoisting up his suitcase, walked after him. He was shown to a small room, previously the room of a toddler if the wallpaper was anything to go by. "I leave ya t'get settled in." said Berwald, walking away and leaving Gilbert to unpack.

* * *

"Children," Tino's voice called over the noise in the dining room. Instantly, the children stopped talking. Tino smiled, reaching up to lay a hand on Gilbert's shoulder. "This is Gilbert. He's here to train to become a care worker."

There weren't many residents. About six or seven. But either way, feeling all their eyes on him, Gilbert felt very nervous.

Then, all of a sudden, his nervousness was shattered into bits by one little girl, who stood up and ran towards him, hugging him tightly. "Welcome to Saint Julia's, Gilbert!" she sang, happily.

Gilbert smiled, hugging her back. "Thanks, kid." he chuckled.

* * *

**End Note: I can so see Sweden and Finland running a care home together. Also, sorry if I'm failing at those two, this is the first time I've ever written them.  
****Song for this chapter is New Walls by Declaration Meow (which is my cousin's band).  
****~Lolly xXx **


	9. When She Loved Me

Swinging his legs, Feliciano sat at the table, watching Ludwig get on with his homework. 'Are you still mad?' He tapped his board to gain the German's attention.

Ludwig glanced up, read the message then continued with his homework. "I wasn't mad to begin with." he lied. He had, in fact, been mad since his fight with Gilbert Sunday night, but while his brother was away, he was just going to pretend that he didn't exist, therefore, neither did the issue.

Deciding not to push it, Feliciano put down his board and lay his head on the table.

The kitchen was silent for about three minutes. That's when Elizabeta turned up.

"Good afternoon, boys." she greeted. Upon receiving no response she turned, put her hands on her hips and repeated; "Good afternoon, boys."

Feliciano raised his hand in a half-hearted wave and Ludwig muttered a quiet "afternoon."

Elizabeta sighed. "Are you still mad at Gilbert?" she asked.

"Who?"

"Oh, honestly, Ludwig! Now you're just being childish." she snapped. She pulled a chair out from under the table and sat down, crossing her legs. "I know he's the biggest pain in the galaxy, and he's rude, boisterous and immature, but I actually agree with him on this."

Feliciano peeked up through his fringe, seeing the torn look on Ludwig's face.

Ludwig knew he was being a bit unreasonable, it didn't take Elizabeta yelling at him to make him realise that, but it really was frustrating. Imagine not being able to remember your childhood at all, then the one person who could tell you about it purposely withholding it from you. Ludwig liked to think he had a right to be a little annoyed.

"Believe me when I say; it's for your own good." concluded Elizabeta, getting to her feet and tucking the chair back under the table. She wiped the countertop over a few times, threw the dishcloth into the sink and left the room.

Once the tapping of her heels was out of earshot, Ludwig went back to his homework, and Feliciano went back to swinging his legs and watching his friend.

* * *

Needless to say, Lovino was not happy about how close his brother was getting to Ludwig. Then again, lately Lovino is not happy about most things.

Feliciano forming new friendships just did more to remind Lovino that he was alone.

He'd always be the same. Just bland, silly Lovino Vargas, trailing behind his perfect brother. Never as happy, never as talented, never as loved.

Even Nonno preferred Feliciano. When Lovino had written to him, he hadn't replied for weeks, but when Feliciano had written, the reply was almost instant.

A knock on his door pulled Lovino out of his thoughts. "Can I join you?" The Spanish accent made Lovino pull the covers over his head. "Why would you wanna join me?" he grumbled.

Antonio entered the room, closing the door behind him. "You look like you need a friend." he said, sitting next to the disgruntled Italian.

"I don't need anyone." snapped Lovino. He shifted away from Antonio, seating himself on his pillow.

The Spaniard smiled. "Don't be so sure." he said. "Everyone needs someone."

Lovino glared out from under his quilt. "Yeah, well not me."

"Specially you."

The eldest Vargas hardened his glare.

"You need someone to talk to. Someone who'll listen." he mumbled, pulling his legs up onto the bed. "I do, too."

Lovino scoffed. "What the hell could a happy-go-lucky moron like you possibly need to talk about?"

Antonio forced a chuckle, glancing away from Lovino. "Even the person that seems the happiest has dark secrets, Lovino." he said.

"Where are you going with this?" asked the Italian, lowering the quilt.

Antonio turned back to Lovino, smiling warmly. "If you want to talk, I'll listen." he promised.

* * *

"Okay, let's see if I got this right." said Gilbert, scanning his eyes over the four girls in front of him. He lay his hand atop the first girl's head. "Cherry," he moved to the next girl. "Lahumma," and the next. "Niamh," and finally, the youngest. "Lyanni."

Lyanni, who was the girl who'd jumped on Gilbert when she'd first met him, smiled and nodded. "Now you have to remember the boys' names." she pointed towards the two boys in the corner, who were busy playing on the Xbox.

Gilbert hummed. "Those two are Connor and Shaun." he replied, before doing a quick scan of the room. "And the missing one is Markus."

The four girls clapped, and Gilbert fist-pumped. It had taken him an entire day, but he had finally memorised the children's names.

"You have to learn my sister's name, too." said Lahumma, tucking a lock of chestnut hair behind her ear.

Lahumma's sister had never been in care, she'd reached eighteen before social services had got involved. She visited Lahumma every week, taking her into town and spoiling her as much as she could.

Cherry rolled her eyes. "No one cares about your sister, Lahumma." she snapped.

"You're just jealous that someone spoils me." retorted Lahumma.

"She only spoils you because she'll never get around to taking you home with her!" Cherry stormed up to her room, slamming every door in the process.

Lahumma bit her lip, standing still as a statue for a few moment, before storming off too.

Connor and Shaun appeared behind Gilbert, each laying a hand on one of his shoulders. "This is where your training starts, my friend." said Connor.

Gilbert nodded, heading after the two girls. He found Cherry's room first. It was hard to miss with her name painted on the door in cherry red.

He knocked, pushing the door open.

Cherry looked up from her face down position on the bed, wiping away a few tears.

"Hey," said Gilbert softly, sitting on the bed. "Are you alright?"

Sitting up, Cherry shook her head, clutching her pillow to her chest. "It really gets to me when she goes on about her sister." she admitted, wiping away more tears as they fell.

"You miss your own family." Gilbert guessed.

"My mother." replied Cherry. "She died three years ago. And I've heard all the care worker tricks, so don't bother pretending to understand."

Gilbert frowned. "You're right." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I don't understand. I don't know what it feels like to lose my mother." He thought carefully about his next words. "But at least your mother cared for you."

Cherry looked up at him through stands of blonde.

Gilbert sighed again. "My mother used to get so high that she'd forget who my brother and I were." he said. "And my father used to beat seven shades of shit into me. He wasn't so bad with my brother, mainly because I tried my damn hardest to stop him. But that was years ago. I've put that part of my life behind me, and I have that staff at Apple Tree House to thank for that." He smiled.

"Apple Tree House?" Cherry raised an eyebrow. "So, you're one of us."

Gilbert nodded. "But we're getting away from the point." He held his arms out, offering a hug to Cherry. The blonde accepted. "I think Lahumma has every reason to be glad that her sister is still in her life. And I know you might be a little bit jealous, but don't you think you owe her an apology?"

Cherry nodded, getting to her feet. "Can you come with me?" she asked.

"Of course." Gilbert replied, standing up and grabbing hold of Cherry's hand. They both made their way to the room next to Cherry's, Lahumma's bedroom, where the young girl was sulking.

Cherry knocked the door, waiting for an answer.

Lahumma opened the door, frowning.

"Before you slam the door in my face," Cherry held her hands out. "I came to say sorry. I didn't mean it."

Lahumma shrugged. "S'okay." she said.

They both stood there, not saying anything for a while.

"Do you wanna... come in and mess about on MMD with me?" asked Lahumma.

Cherry smiled. "Yeah, alright." She followed Lahumma into the room.

Gilbert smiled, glad because a) his first care work experience had gone so well and b) it made him feel amazing.

A quiet chuckle behind him alerted him to Tino's presence. "You handled that really well." said the Finn. "Carry on like this and you'll pass this course with flying colours."

"How long have you been watching?" asked Gilbert, with a nervous chuckle.

Tino smiled, somewhat sadly. "Long enough to know you've had a rough life."

There was something about Tino that made him stand out from all the other care workers Gilbert had met. He wasn't sure why, but Tino seemed a little… maternal.

"You know where I am if you need to talk." assured the Finn, walking away.

* * *

"So what happened to you?" asked Lovino, breaking the silence that had been thick between the two for about thirty minutes now.

Antonio looked up from his comic. "Pardon?" He blinked.

Lovino rolled his eyes. "Why are you in care, dumbass?" He sighed, glaring at the Spaniard.

"Oh," Antonio frowned. "Well, my mother was very ill. She died just before my seventh birthday and my dad couldn't cope. None of my relatives would take me in, so I ended up here." he explained, his eyes falling back on his comic.

Lovino hummed, pulling his knees up to his chest. "Mine were in a car accident." he admitted, resting his chin on his knees. "I was five. Feli and I lived with our Grandfather for a while. Then social services got involved."

Antonio raised an eyebrow. Was Lovino… opening up to him? He let a small smile creep onto his face. Maybe the Italian was getting a little better.

* * *

**End Note: I FINALLY GOT ANTONIO'S PAST IN! Haha, I've been trying to fit it in somewhere for ages. I actually had everyone's past sorted before I even started this. Right, so just to clear a few things up, MMD is MikuMikuDance, but I'm sure you guys knew that, Niamh is pronounced Neeve and no, Lovino isn't completely cured yet, he's just having a calm moment.  
****Song for this chapter is When She Loved Me by Sarah McLachlan.  
****~Lolly xXx**


	10. Hear Me

On the rare occasion that Matthew was able to slip away from his brother, he liked to wander around the house and see how his housemates were doing.

Today, he'd already had a conversation with Ivan about polar bears (why Ivan had chosen that particular topic, he'd never know), received a random hug from Lili, been clouted by Vash and tickled by Francis (for a reason that would remain a mystery).

He was about to retreat to his room when he noticed the Vargas twins sitting in the lounge.

Lovino and Feliciano had lived at Apple Tree House for quite a while now, and Matthew liked to think of himself as a friendly person, but he couldn't remember ever having a conversation with either of them. Deciding to rectify this, he turned into the lounge and sat beside them. "Hi." he greeted.

Feliciano smiled, wiggling his fingers in a small wave.

Lovino just ignored Matthew completely.

Biting the lid off his marker, Feliciano wrote on his board. 'You're Martin, right?' he asked.

"Matthew." the blonde corrected. He stared at Feliciano's board inquisitively. "Hey, I hope you won't be offended by this," he started, shifting his gaze to Feliciano's eyes. "But can you speak?"

Feliciano shrugged. 'Never tried. Not since I was five, anyway.'

Matthew smiled, pushing up his glasses. "Try it." he prompted.

With a nod, Feliciano opened his mouth to attempt speaking, but gasped when he felt Lovino pulling him away by his arm. "He can't talk!" he yelled. "He hasn't talked for ten years, if he started now he'd need years of speech therapy, which he wouldn't want, so stop harassing him!" He glared at Matthew, pulling his twin out of the room.

"I'm sorry." Matthew mumbled, despite the fact that the twins were now halfway to their bedroom.

* * *

Lovino slammed the door as hard as he could, cracking some of the plaster around the doorframe.

With a frown, Feliciano crawled onto his bed (Yekaterina had changed the sheets after Lovino's 'accident'), a little irritated that his brother had once again pulled him away from an opportunity to make a new friend.

He lay still for a moment, sulking a little, but sat up when he felt Lovino's weight on the bed.

"That idiot didn't upset you, did he?" asked the eldest twin.

Feliciano really felt like telling his brother exactly what had upset him, but he settled for a simple shake of the head.

"You don't need to talk." Lovino stated. "I understand you just fine, without your board."

'The others can't.' Feliciano wrote, drawing a sad face in the corner of the board.

Lovino scowled, grabbing his brother by the shoulders. "You don't _need_ the others. _I'm_ the only one you need. How many times do I have to tell you?" He released his grip, sending Feli backwards, and got to his feet, storming out of the room.

And Feliciano really wished he could call after him. The youngest Italian leaned back on his pillows, thinking for a while before standing and leaving his room.

He travelled down the hall to the games room, where he was certain he'd find Ludwig and Kiku.

"Hello, Feliciano." Kiku greeted, without even looking to see who'd walking through the door. Kiku was creepy that way, sometimes.

Ludwig turned to greet his friend, frowning when he saw the expression on Feliciano's face. A look of determination mixed with anger and a little sadness if the unshed tears were anything to go by.

"What's the matter?" asked Ludwig, which caused Kiku to turn his head at look at the Italian.

Feliciano quickly scribbled onto his board, turning it for the two to read.

'Teach me to speak."

* * *

Lovino didn't know where he was going. He just needed to be away from his brother.

Why couldn't Feliciano see that the only person he needed was Lovino?

The elder Italian ran into the first room that wasn't a bedroom, slamming the door and leaning against it, letting himself fall to the floor. Damnit, he would not cry!

"Lovino?"

Lifting his head, Lovino finally noticed which room he was in. The music room. With Roderich and Elizabeta. Lovely.

In a rather un-Lovino-like way, the oldest of the Vargas twins didn't shout. He just put his head down and let a few tears slip down his face.

Elizabeta got up from her chair, moving over to kneel next to Lovino. "What's the matter, dear?" she asked, putting an arm around his shoulders.

Lovino shrugged her off, moving over, away from her.

With a sigh, Elizabeta got to her feet. "Why don't you sit in my chair for a while?" she smiled, pulling the door open. Lovino didn't move. "I'll be right back." With that, she left the room.

Roderich sighed quietly, running his fingers up and down the keys of the baby grand, not playing anything, just lightly brushing his fingertips along the keys, feeling the ivory beneath them.

Nothing was said between the two, leaving a heavy, awkward silence. Roderich had never really interacted with Lovino one-on-one and didn't really know what to say. Lovino just didn't feel like talking.

Elizabeta returned shortly, breaking the silence with the clinking of mugs. She set her tray down on the small table in the room, picking up one of the mugs and handing it to Roderich, who smiled and thanked her.

She turned to Lovino, giving another warm smile. She lifted another mug from the tray, kneeling beside Lovino and handing it to him. "Come and sit with me." she offered.

Lovino stared into the mug. Hot chocolate with whipped cream. He let his eyes peek out from under his fringe as he licked at the cream.

"Come on, sweetie." Elizabeta pressed. She helped him to his feet and guided him over to her chair, sitting down comfortably before pulling Lovino onto her lap and holding him in a similar way that she held Feliciano a few weeks previous.

Roderich couldn't help but smile.

The loud ring of the office telephone startled Jenny out of her busy typing.

"Hello, Apple Tree House. Jennifer Dale speaking." answered the care worker with a practised tone.

Her face fell when she heard the voice on the end of the line. Oh, this was not going to be fun.

"Katy," she whispered, holding her hand over the receiver. "Could you please call Alfred?"

Yekaterina nodded, getting up from her desk. "Alfred, you're wanted in the office, dear." she called into the living room.

Alfred nodded and followed her back. He scowled when Jenny held the phone out to him, but still, he took the phone from her, pressing it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Alfred! How're you doing, kid?"

With another scowl, Alfred clenched his free hand into a tight fist. "What do _you_ want?" he barked into to phone.

"To talk." said the man on the line. "I know I'm not you're favourite guy right now, but-"

"Damn strait, you're not. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't slam the phone down _right now_."

"Because I'm your father and I deserve a chance to explain myself."

Alfred almost laughed. Did this detestable bastard really think he deserved anything other than what he had? A cold cell in prison. In Alfred's opinion, he didn't even deserve that. "You know, if I was Matthew, that might have worked." he spat. "Then again, if I was Matthew, you wouldn't be talking to me."

The line was silent for a few moments, before the man on the phone spoke again, quietly. "It's hard for me to talk to Matthew... He's too much like-"

"Like the woman you _murdered_." Alfred finished. "By the way, we've both had our names legally changed to Williams." And with the final blow delivered, Alfred slammed the phone down and marched out of the office, ignoring Jenny calling him back.

* * *

**End Note: So... Chapter 10... Oh, guys seriously. The shit I've got planned for this! I'm going to have to drag it out and have a few pointless fillers, so a huge sorry for any time wasting I do. Also, I'm sorry to tell all you Gilbert fangirls, my self included, that aside from the odd letter here and there, we aren't going to be seeing much of our favourite Prussian for a while. I love you guys. Really I do. I love every single one of you who review, follow, have favourited or even bother reading this. I want to hug and kiss you all!  
****The song for this chapter is Hear Me by Kelly Clarkson.  
****~Lolly xXx**


	11. All This Time

There is nothing more fun than playing something that everyone is terrible at. Which is exactly why Francis, Alfred, Matthew and Arthur were playing badminton in the garden.

So far they'd lost three shuttlecocks, broken one and hit each other in the face countless times.

It was Arthur's turn to serve. He threw the shuttlecock up in the air and hit it over the net to Matthew, who returned his serve.

They actually survived a few decent passes, until hay fever finally got the best of Francis, who sneezed and missed the shuttlecock.

The other three laughed while Francis rubbed at his itchy eye. "We suck at this." observed Matthew, grabbing the shuttlecock, assuming it was probably his serve now anyway.

The game lasted a little longer this time, and it was Alfred who narrowly missed hitting the shuttlecock.

Francis chuckled, throwing his bat down. "Well, I'm going to go inside before my face goes blotchy." he said, turning away from the other boys and heading inside.

"I'm going to follow him in, actually." said Matthew, throwing his bat on top of Francis'. "It's too warm out here for me." Matthew had always loved the cold, ever since he was a baby. He was always much happier building snowmen than playing in the pool. The opposite was true of Alfred.

Arthur and Alfred glanced at each other, silently agreeing to a one-on-one match. Surprisingly, the game lasted much longer than when the four of them were playing.

They spent at least another hour playing before they finally got bored and headed inside, packing the badminton things away beforehand. Jenny would have killed them if they left it out.

"So, are you feeling better after last night?" asked Arthur, pouring himself and Alfred a glass of 7UP.

Alfred visibly bristled. "A little." he replied, sharply.

Nodding, Arthur put the bottle back in the fridge and brought the two glasses over to the table. "It helps to talk abo-"

"I don't _want_ to talk about it!" snapped the American. He let out a sigh of frustration. "Look, there's nothing to talk about." He downed his drink, slamming his glass back down on the table, leaving a nasty scratch that Jenny would be less than impressed about.

Arthur frowned. Well, he had told Jenny to get a tablecloth. But more importantly than that, he really, _really_ wished there was something he could do for his friend.

When Alfred had first arrived at Apple Tree House, Arthur took him and Matthew under his wing. He showed them around, got them used to the routines and was generally there for them, should they need him. And he still was. He hoped that they both knew that.

The Brit took a sip of his drink with a quiet sigh. "Alfred," He kept his voice quiet. "You've spoken to me about a lot, but I still don't know why you're here."

Alfred scoffed. "You really want to know what happened to me?" he asked, taking a deep breath. He'd refused to speak to Dr. Laurinaitis about this, yet here he was, about to pour his heart out to Arthur Kirkland, of all people.

Not that Arthur was a bad person to be talking to. Actually, out of the residents, Arthur was probably the best to talk to. At sixteen, he was already a better counsellor than Toris Laurinaitis.

"My father is in prison because he murdered my mom."

Arthur froze in shock. For the second time, he'd pried a friend's heart open and found murder at it's core. "Alfred, I-"

"Don't you dare say sorry!" snapped Alfred, crossing his arms.

"I'm not going to pretend to understand." Arthur took another sip from his glass. "Empathy is not something I'm going to be able to provide, but sympathy is. You know you can always talk to me if you need to vent."

Alfred huffed. "Whatever." he grumbled, getting up and leaving the room.

* * *

The repetitive sound of the ball hitting the concrete as Lili and Peter bounced it back and fourth between each other was really starting to grate on Vash's last nerve.

The eldest of the Zwingli siblings was going to take his sister out for a treat to celebrate a whole week without any flashbacks. Lili had asked if Peter could tag along and Vash couldn't say no to her, so now the three of them were waiting outside for Yekaterina (Jenny wouldn't let them go without a chaperone).

"Okay, are you ready to go?" asked Yekaterina, appearing through the doorway.

Vash glared at her. "We were ready over ten minutes ago." he growled.

Yekaterina frowned and apologised.

After a few more minutes of fussing, the four were on their way. Vash had already decided what they were doing. He was going to take Lili (and Peter) to see any movie she wanted, then they were going to go for ice cream and maybe they'd play in the park for a while. He'd always saved his pocket money, so he had enough, even though Yekaterina had insisted she'd pay.

True to her word, the Ukrainian paid for their tickets, but Vash bought the popcorn and drinks.

The Swiss had little interest in the movie — it was some animated film that Lili had been particularly keen to see — but he was glad that Lili was enjoying herself. It had been such a long time since he'd seen Lili genuinely happy.

If he got to see a real smile on Lili's face, he'd suffer through as many ridiculous movies as it took.

After the movie, Yekaterina said they didn't have time to play in the park, but she seemed fine about stopping for ice cream. They were still a little late for supper, but none of them were really hungry anyway, having been full of popcorn and ice cream.

Jenny was understanding, and allowed them to skip supper and go up to bed. Lil and Peter were both really tired.

* * *

Ludwig sighed. Feliciano's speech lessons weren't going so well.

He was trying. He couldn't make any sound other than a cracked croaking, but he was definitely _trying_. And he was becoming increasingly frustrated with himself. Even to the point of tears, which made Ludwig feel really awkward. He wasn't good at dealing with crying.

"Maybe we should end it here for now." said Ludwig, wiping his sleeve over his friend's damp cheeks.

Feliciano nodded, slipping his thumb into his mouth.

Ludwig got to his feet, leaving the room. "I'll see you tomorrow." he said. He got halfway to his room before Jenny finally spotted him.

"I have something for you." she chimed, holding out an envelope.

The messy handwriting gave away the sender right away.

Gilbert _could _write really neatly. But he saved that for his coursework.

Ludwig thanked Jenny and walked to his room, settling on his bed before opening and reading the letter from his brother.

_Dear Ludwig,  
__How's things? I'm really enjoying it here. The co-head is really friendly (not too sure about the other one) and the kids are great. Well, there is this one kid who's a little shit, but apart from him, they're all lovely. I do miss everyone though, I think I'm even starting to miss Lovino O_o.  
__There's a little boy here who reminds me so much of you when you were that age. He's so cute! Just like you were back then. WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO MY ADORABLE BRUDERLEIN? Oh, there's also a little girl here who's like a mini Feliciano. All she ever does is cuddle up to people, she's a little sweetheart! And guess what, they're best friends. They're only six, but they're so smitten. It's cute.  
__Before I forget, how is Feliciano? And Lovino? Neither of them were in a good state when I left. Don't just write back "Everyone's fine", because I'm genuinely worried about them.  
__Ludwig, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately ("That's a change, haha." Don't joke, I'm being serious) and I've decided that as soon as I get back we can talk and I'll tell you everything you want to know about our past. It's going to be difficult to talk about for both of us, but you were right, you do deserve to know. Just remember that you're my baby brother and I love you more than anything.  
__Right, enough of that unawesome emotional bullshit, you know I hate emotions. Let's end on something happy. My training is going really well and I'm even managing to keep my coursework up to date. At the end of the two months, I'll sit my exam, ace it and then I'll be back to do the rest of my training and start work at Apple Tree House! Yay!  
__Well, I should probably stop writing now, I have shit to do. I'm in charge of making lunch today. Wish me luck haha.  
__Gilbert._

* * *

**End Note: Seriously? An update one day after the previous? This should make me proud of myself, but it only makes me feel even worse about totally failing to update Little Emily for so long. The last time I updated that was the 7****th**** of June! JUNE! I'm just so stuck on it at the moment. HOWEVER! NEVER FEAR, FANS! I HAVE BEAUTIFUL PLANS FOR APPLE TREE HOUSE! Without giving too much away, I have a plan for Francis, Feliciano and, of course, Lovino. I think I might get cracking with Francis' segment next chapter, or maybe I'll leave it for another time. But I really do want to get it sorted. Also, in Francis' bit we have a guest appearance, but I'm not going to tell you who by. I wonder if any of you can guess?  
****The song for this chapter is All This Time by Michelle.  
****~Lolly xXx**


	12. Untitled

_Apple Tree House._

She read and reread the sign about four times before slowly approaching the house, letting her eyes scan over the familiar building.

How long had she promised him? A couple of weeks? Two months at the most? Ten whole years had flown by without her even realising.

Flicking her blonde hair out of her eyes, she approached the door, knocking quickly, then stepping back, nervously wringing her hands.

The door was opened a short while later by a short Asian boy.

She smiled, hiding her nerves. "Hello." Her voice shook a little, but she quickly cleared her throat and righted herself. "Can I come in?"

Kiku just stared at the woman for a short while, but nodded anyway, assuming she was here for a fostering interview, and stepped out of the way for her to enter.

Sighing, she stepped into the house, glancing around. Everything reminded her of that day.

"I'll go get Jenny." said Kiku, disappearing through the archway.

The woman nodded, taking a deep breath. She waited patiently for his return, biting her lip to stop the memories from bringing tears to her eyes. She was glancing over the photos of days out and such on the wall of the hallway when she heard someone come down the stairs. She turned, smiling at who she saw.

"Francis?"

The teen froze when he caught sight of the woman in the archway. He recognised her instantly. The blonde hair that fell around her shoulders in gentle waves, her blue eyes, her pale skin, even the simple silver bracelet that rode her left wrist.

She put a hand to her chest. "Is that really my little boy?"

Without a word, Francis turned and ran strait back to his room, slamming his door, just as Kiku returned with Jenny.

Jenny, who had been ecstatic about a potential foster parent for one of the children, frowned, her mood plummeting. "Would you like to step into my office, Mrs. Bonnefoy?" she said, more demanding than requesting.

* * *

"Francis, what's wrong?" asked Antonio when his roommate stormed into their room and slammed the door, having only left under a minute ago.

Francis didn't answer. He just stomped over to his bed and threw himself down face-first, crying and cursing into his pillow.

How dare she!

First she lies to him, leaves him here to rot, then she shows up out of the blue! How dare she! That... that... that _chienne_! That stupid, stupid _chienne_!

Francis spent a few more minutes sobbing and swearing in French. "How c-could she, Antonio?" he wept.

Antonio, who had sat on his friend's bed, rubbing soothing circles on his back and listening to him bawling for the past couple of minutes, just sighed.

"T-two months at the m-most, so she turns up ten years l-later! I h-hate her, Antonio! I really, genuinely fucking _hate_ her!"

Francis didn't swear often, so when he did, everyone knew things were getting too serious.

"I know you do, amigo." soothed Antonio.

A knock sounded on their bedroom door, and the two pulled apart as Antonio went to answer it.

It was Elizabeta, looking particularly concerned. "I saw." she said, stepping into the room. "Are you alright, Francis?"

"Does it look like I'm alright?" snapped the teen. He took a deep breath, wiping his face. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine." Elizabeta smiled, seating herself next to Francis, wrapping an arm around him. "Lesson number one in life, sweetie. Parents are rubbish." She let him rest his head on her shoulder, stroking his hair.

* * *

Claudette Bonnefoy thanked Yekaterina as she set a mug of tea down on the desk for her.

The Ukrainian nodded and sat behind her own desk, filling in a diary of yesterday's events with the Zwingli siblings.

"I would have appreciated at least a phone call." stated Jenny, folding her hands.

Claudette pouted. "I'm sorry." she snapped. "I was just so excited about seeing my son again after so long!"

With a sigh, Jenny ran her hand through her hair.

"I'm a changed woman, Ms. Dale!" Claudette clutched her chest. "I've left my husband and now I'm ready to be a mother, just please let me see my son! _Please_!"

Yekaterina looked up. "It isn't up to us, Mrs. Bonnefoy."

Glancing over to the care worker, Claudette frowned.

"It's Francis' decision." the Ukrainian explained. "Their tutor is about to arrive for their session, so you'll have to wait until afterwards."

Claudette nodded, wiping away a few tears that had been gathering in her eyes.

* * *

The tutor for Apple Tree House and all care homes in the area was a tall man from Estonia named Eduard von Bock. He was a kind man and was very good at his job.

The residents had a great deal of respect for him, even though they did all hate having lessons together with different age groups.

It was a difficult job to teach the six year olds on the same level as the seventeen year olds, but Eduard managed it.

"Good morning, class." Eduard smiled, leaning against the wall.

"Good morning, Mr. von Bock." was the monotonous reply. Today was Wednesday. Which meant they had maths. Nobody likes maths.

Not letting the usual drone of bored children deter him, Eduard wrote the word 'FRACTIONS' on the large whiteboard neatly.

The children gave an irritated groan.

Eduard gave a quiet chuckle. "I don't see what you all find so difficult about fractions." he said, busying himself with writing a few examples on the board, explaining them as he went along.

He was so busy, he didn't notice Feliciano's hand in the air. Well, Lovino took care of that.

"Hey, my brother's had his hand up for ages, you blind bastard! You must need stronger glasses!"

Having gotten used to Lovino's outbursts long ago, Eduard chided him for his language, and smiled towards Feliciano. "What is it?"

Feli quickly wrote on his own board, not wanting to waste too much time. Not that Eduard minded. He'd been in this job for a long time and had encountered a number of children who wrote on boards or used sign language to communicate.

'I'm still stuck on the fractions from last week.'

"Okay," Eduard nodded towards him. "I'll just go through the new ones for the others, then I'll come and have a look at what you'd got so far, okay?" He gave another smile, writing a few more fractions on the board for the class to try before making his way over to Feliciano and sitting beside him. "So, what's giving you trouble?"

Feliciano opened his maths book to last weeks problems. He'd given them a go, but he didn't think he'd done particularly well.

Eduard gave his answers a quick once-over, humming a little. "Well, you've managed to get a couple right." he said, making Feliciano's face light up. "But I think I see where you're having trouble. Let's see," He quickly scanned the students. "Ludwig," he decided. "Could you give Feliciano a bit of a hand with these?"

Ludwig looked up. "You mean tutor him?" he asked.

Eduard nodded. "If you wouldn't mind."

"Okay." Ludwig gave a small smile to Feliciano, before turning back to his work.

Feliciano frowned, feeling a bit useless. First he'd asked Ludwig to teach him to speak and now he had to help him with maths. He really didn't want to burden him.

On the other side of the room, Francis was busy ignoring the world. He hand his arms folded and his head down, thinking about the encounter this morning before tutoring began.

Why was she here? And why now? Why couldn't she have come ten years ago when he wanted her in his life?

All his life he'd daydreamed that she'd turn up in a glamorous car to take him back to France and now that she was here, what did he do? He stormed up to his room and cried like a baby.

He thoughts came to an abrupt halt when a balled up piece of paper landed on his desk. He unrolled it and read it's message.

'_Are you alright? -Matt_'

With a sigh, he scrawled back '_Not really_.'

'_What's the matter?_'

'_My mother turned up this morning_'

'_That's good though?_'

'_You'd think so, but no._'

'_You know where I am, if you need me xx_'

Quickly stuffing the note into his pocket, Francis decided to get on with some work before Mr. von Bock noticed him slacking.

* * *

Jenny quietly knocked on Francis' door, slipping inside when she heard him call. "Just me." she said, sitting on the bed.

"What does she want?" asked Francis, rubbing his eyes.

With a sigh, Jenny tucked a lock of loose hair behind her ear. "To talk to you. Maybe explain herself." she replied. Catching the distrust in Francis' eyes, she put a hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to see her, Francis." she said.

Francis sighed. "I will see her." he muttered. As much as he hated her right now, he couldn't deny that he needed answers from her.

Jenny gave a sad sort of smile and got to her feet, leaving the room just as Claudette entered.

"Francis!" she chimed again, wrapping her arms around her son.

Francis stiffened in her grasp. "Hello _Claudette_."

Claudette froze, frowning. That cut deeply. She knew Francis might be mad, but she didn't think he would outright refuse to call her mother.

Actually, on the way here she'd imagined a perfect reunion. The Francis in her mind was delighted to see her. He jumped strait into her arms and they embraced and cried together, pouring their hearts out to one another and simply stating who much they'd missed each other over and over and over.

"Why now?" asked Francis.

Claudette sighed. "I've wanted to come and get you for so long, _mon bébé_!"

"Then why didn't you?"

"Do you have any idea how difficult it was?" Claudette got to her feet, staring down at her son. "I was just a child myself when I had you! _Sixteen_, Francis! I couldn't… I couldn't look after a child!" she calmed herself a little, sitting back down next to Francis on the bed. "I _hated_ leaving you here."

Unconvinced, Francis scoffed and looked away.

A few more tears gathered in Claudette's eyes. "But that's why I'm here. To make things better." Her voice was becoming desperate. She wrapped her arms back around Francis, who immediately struggled out of her hold.

"What, you think you can show up, say sorry and everything will be okay again?" he snapped, walking across the room to sit on Antonio's bed.

Claudette stuttered for a moment, before smiling softly. "She's just like you." she stated.

Francis raised an eyebrow. "Who is?" he asked.

"Monique."

"Who's Monique?" A bad feeling began stirring in Francis' chest.

Claudette reached into her bag and pulled out a photograph, handing it to her son. "That's Monique. She's your little sister." she said, still smiling.

Francis stared at the photograph, taking in the girl's image. She did, indeed look like him. She wore her long, blonde hair in a braid that fell over her shoulder, a few clips keeping her fringe out of her eyes. She had little glasses that sat cutely on the bridge of her nose.

Francis decided that she was beautiful, but that didn't mean he was any less hurt by her existence. "How old is she?" he asked.

Claudette's smile widened. "She just turned six." she answered.

Biting back any tears, Francis handed the photo back. "I think you should leave." he ground out.

"What?" Claudette got to her feet. "But, Francis-"

"You weren't ready to be a mother, but you had another baby? She wasn't put into care or pawned off an someone else, but _I_ was? If you were ready to be a mother when Monique was born why didn't you come and get me back then?" Francis yelled, his hands balled into fists at his sides. He took a deep breath to stop himself lashing out any more. "Just leave, Claudette!"

Claudette frowned, tears falling freely from her eyes. "I've never stopped thinking about my baby boy." she admitted, before turning and walking away.

* * *

**End Note: Longer chapter than usual. *nods* Anyway, the tutoring scene is here thanks to LilDeadKitty, who asked how Lovi and Feli cope with school, so I explained that a friend of mine grew up in care and was tutored. THAT SCENE IS FOR YOU, BABY! Sorry if I totally failed at Estonia, I've never written him before. Also, this is fab. I have Lithuania as the counsoler, Estonia as the tutor, now I just have to slot Latvia in somewhere. Also, Francis' mammy isn't the guest appearance, but Monique is. We'll be seeing more of her soon, don't worry. I hope you guys know who Monique is supposed to be O_o.  
****EDIT: Just corrected some mistakes.  
****Translations:-  
****Chienne - Bitch.  
****Mon bébé - My baby.  
****The song for this chapter is Untitled by Simple Plan.  
****~Lolly xXx**


	13. When I'm Five

For the most part, helping Feliciano with maths was easy. Extremely so, compared to teaching him to speak.

The Italian wasn't terrible at maths, he was just a little stuck on some of the harder questions.

But, he was getting better and his maths book was beginning to look a little fuller.

_1/2 x 2/5 = 1x2/2x5 = 2/10 - 1/5  
__3/4 x 2/3 = 3x2/4x3 = 6/12 = 1/2  
__1/3 x 9/16 = 1x9/3x16 = 9/48 = 3/6  
__5/8 x 4/5 = 5x4/8x5 = 20/40 = 1/2_

"See how easy it is?" asked Ludwig, smiling.

Feliciano nodded. 'Top times top over bottom times bottom. Easy peasy!'

Ludwig nodded, writing a few more fractions on Feliciano's book for him to try. Dividing this time.

As he listened to Ludwig explain how to make dividing fractions easier, Feliciano began to write what he'd intended to tell Ludwig from the very start of this tutoring session.

'You don't have to teach me to speak. Don't feel obligated just because I asked you.'

He tapped the board with his fingernail to gain the German's attention.

Ludwig read Feliciano's message with a raised eyebrow. "Who says I feel obligated?" he asked. He put down his pen and turned to face his friend. "Feliciano, I _want_ to help you speak. I want you to be able to communicate without that board. And anyway, a lot of people around here want to know what your voice sounds like, myself included."

Feliciano smiled. 'I sounded like a little girl when I was younger.' he wrote.

"Ja, for some reason I have no problem believing that." chuckled Ludwig.

* * *

"So, what are you going to do?" asked Matthew, peeking over his bear's head.

Francis sighed. "What do you think I should do?" He rested his head on his knees, pulling Matthew's blanket further round himself. "What would you do?"

Matthew had been hoping he wouldn't ask that. "Personally, I'd forgive her instantly, but Alfred always says that I'm too forgiving." he said, crossing his legs and seating his bear in his lap.

"Is it weird that I actually want a relationship with Monique?" asked Francis, glancing over at Matthew.

"Of course not." was the Canadian's immediate reply. "She is your sister after all."

Francis gave a low hum. Jenny had told him that Claudette had left her number, and all afternoon he'd been trying to decide whether to call or not. Not for Claudette, but for Monique. As weird as it seemed to him, he really wanted to get to know her. At first he had been angry that she was able to stay with their mother and he wasn't, but it really wasn't Monique's fault, he understood that once he'd calmed down.

He got off Matthew's bed with a muttered "see you later" and left the room, heading down to Jenny's office. He knocked, entering when he heard Yekaterina calling him in.

Jenny looked up from her desk when she noticed someone standing in front of her desk. "Hello Francis." she greeted, instantly knowing why he was there.

"I want to set up contact hours with my sister." he said.

* * *

Natalya had always loved her puppets. She had a lot of them, and she loved them all. But her favourite was easily the doll she'd named Yvonne.

Yvonne had long, platinum blonde hair, shiny eyes that could be grey or blue, depending on which way you looked at them and a pale complexion. She wore a long, red dress with white fur along the hem and neckline.

Yvonne also had a nasty scar on the left side of her face, created by a rather large foot. You see, when Natalya was a toddler, Yvonne was in a very bad accident.

Natalya's papa was a very good man. Or, at least he tried to be. His job sometimes made being a good man very difficult.

His first wife was a very pretty Ukrainian woman. She had bared him a daughter. Yekaterina. Then, when Yekaterina was four, his wife was murdered.

He took Yekaterina to Russia, where, a few years later, he met a woman who was even more beautiful than his first wife. They were wed and conceived another child, a boy. Ivan. A few days shy of Ivan's sixth birthday, his mama was also murdered.

So, the three of them fled to Belarus. A pretty Belarusian woman soon stole the heart of the Russian man, and that's where Natalya comes into it.

They lived happily for a few years, foolishly believing that they'd shaken off the bad people who were perusing them. Unfortunately, this was not true.

Natalya was happily playing with Yvonne when it happened.

The men that their papa was running from broke into their home, dragged their parents away and...

That's when Yvonne got stomped on. She didn't like thinking about it because it made her cry.

Natalya cried sometimes, too.

Natalya cried a lot. She liked it when Ivan was there. He made the monsters disappear and Natalya felt safe.

Natalya loved her big brother.

Big brother looked like papa.

* * *

Yao was over again. He hadn't been able to visit for a while because he'd been up to his elbows in university work, but he was free at last.

"It's rare to see you without your sister." he commented, sipping at his tea.

Ivan nodded. "Da," he leaned across the table. "I love her very much, but it's exhausting having her clinging to me all the time."

Yao smiled. He'd had a similar problem with one of the children who lived at Apple Tree House a few years ago. Her name was Mei. She was a lovely girl, and was fostered then adopted almost as soon as she'd been put into care.

For the short amount of time she was in care, she stuck to Yao like glue, having decided that he was her 'big brother'. And Yao took good care of her. He'd never admit it, but he cried a little when she was adopted.

Yao gave a quiet chuckle. "She's just showing that she loves you." he said, setting his mug down.

"Da, I know." Ivan smiled fondly. "So how is your university work going, Yao?" he asked.

With a sigh, Yao pulled the elastic out of his hair, combing through his silky chestnut locks with his fingers before tying it back up in exactly the same place. "It's going well, it's just boring. And I'm really lonely in that cramped flat." he chuckled again. "I never thought I'd miss Mr. von Bock's tutoring sessions."

Ivan chuckled along with his old friend.

"Is there anything interesting going on around here?" asked Yao, bringing his mug back up to his lips.

Ivan thought for a while, before answering. "Well, Gilbert is on his way to becoming a care worker, Alfred is becoming moodier and... Oh yes, Francis' mother turned up yesterday morning." he explained.

Yao's eyes widened. "Really?" He was there when Francis' parents first left him at Apple Tree House, promising that they'd be back for him as soon as they possibly could. And he was there the day Francis realised that they probably wouldn't be back at all. "What happened?"

"They spoke for a while, then Francis told her to leave." replied Ivan.

"How is he?" asked Yao, seeming genuinely worried.

Ivan shrugged. "I haven't seen him since lunch yesterday, and he seemed in a pretty bad way then."

* * *

Ring... Ring... Ring...

_"Hello?"_

_"Hello, Mrs. Bonnefoy, this is Jennifer Dale."_

_"Has he changed his mind?"_

_"No, I'm afraid not..."_

_"Then why are you calling?"_

_"Francis wants to set up contact hours with Monique. He's specified that he'd prefer it to be in a contact centre, without you around. I was just calling to ask if this would be okay with you. There's no need to worry about Monique's safety, a contact supervisor would be present at all times."_

_"... Okay."_

_"Is that a yes?"_

_"Yes. He may not want me in his life, but I'm glad Monique will get to know her big brother."_

...click.

* * *

**End Note: I never thought I'd find myself doing fractions after passing both GCSE mathematics and statistics, but there you go. Okay, so I tried to go through the Braginski's past with a bit of a child-like/fairytale tint, I think it works, but I've been wrong before. I just want to make special mention of KuroRyuKiba here, who sent me such a sweet PM, it actually brought tears to my eyes~  
****The song for this chapter is When I'm Five by David Bowie.  
****~Lolly xXx**


	14. Little Boxes

It had only taken about a week to set up a contact schedule for Francis and Monique. Every Thursday at 3:30 pm for an hour and a half.

Today was the very first contact, and the first time Francis would meet his little sister. He sat in the contact centre, waiting for her to turn up. He was nervous as hell, but he wasn't letting it show.

He looked up from his book when he heard the door to the room opening and a little girl shouting "See you later, _maman_."

In the doorway stood the girl from the photograph, Monique Bonnefoy. She had her hair in the same side-braid, and had pretty slides with flowers on them holding her fringe out of her eyes. She smiled when she caught sight of Francis. "_Frère_!" she chimed, latching herself onto his waist.

Francis smiled, wrapping his arms around his little sister. "_Bonjour_, Monique." he said. He lifted the little girl onto his hip, letting her rest her head on his shoulder.

The spent a little while just playing on the floor with various things and chatting, getting to know each other while the supervisor took notes.

"_Frère_," Monique pushed herself onto her knees from her laying position on the floor. "Why don't you want to come and live with _maman_ and me?" she asked.

Francis sighed. "Cl- _Maman_ really upset me, Monique." he explained. "I don't expect you to understand, but I'd rather stay at Apple Tree House."

Monique frowned. "Is it my fault?"

"Why would you think that?"

"_Maman_ said you got mad when she told you about me."

Francis clenched his fists. How stupid could one woman possibly be? "I did get mad, but it's not your fault." he said, trying to smile. "I got mad because the reason I'm in care in the first place was because _maman_ wasn't ready to be my mother, but when she had you, instead of coming to get me, she left me there. It's her fault, not your's."

Monique chewed her sleeve, leaning sideways on Francis. "_Maman_ tells me stories about you all the time." she said. "She has lots of pictures of you when you were little. She wants us to be a family."

With another sigh, Francis pulled his sister onto his lap. "Sorry, Monique. I'm just not ready to forgive her yet." he whispered, hoping the six year old would understand, but knowing she wouldn't.

* * *

After a week of lessons, Feliciano's speech wasn't getting any better. He'd attempted to rage quit at least three times, but he was quickly coerced back.

Ludwig sighed. Four different methods had failed to work, and he was running out of ideas. "How about this," he said, taking Feliciano's board from in front of him. "If I have your board, you'll have no way to communicate, so you'll have to try harder to speak."

Kiku saw the initial panic that flashed though Feliciano's eyes. "I think that may be too extreme, Ludwig." he stated. He picked up Feliciano's marker, and wrote on the large whiteboard (When they had told Jenny about teaching Feliciano to speak, she had insisted they use the classroom).

_A  
__E  
__I  
__O  
__U_

"Feliciano, try pronouncing the letter sounds."

Ludwig raised an eyebrow. "Kiku, we've already tried this way." he pointed out.

Kiku gave him a small smile. "If at first you don't succeed, try and try and try again."

Feliciano nodded with a determined expression. He took a deep breath and tried his hardest, but all he could manage was a (kind of cute) squeaking noise.

"Try again." Kiku pointed to the latter 'A'.

Feliciano nodded and tried again. And failed again.

"And again."

This happened about twelve times, with poor Feliciano trying and failing, until, finally, he managed the letter sound.

Ludwig and Kiku exchanged smiles.

"Next one." Ludwig commanded, pointing to the letter 'E'.

It didn't take so long this time, but it did take a few attempts.

Soon enough, Feliciano was able to pronounce the sounds of all the vowels, which made him very happy.

Kiku smiled at him. "Very well done, Feliciano." he said. "Tomorrow, we'll move on to consonants, and once you've mastered them, we'll try teaching you to say actual words."

Feliciano just nodded happily, springing to his feet. He tackled both of his friends in a hug before skipping off.

* * *

The were only two people that Natalya liked playing with. Ivan and herself. No one else was allowed into Natalya's imaginary bubble, not even Yekaterina. Everyone at Apple tree House knew this, but it didn't stop them from trying.

The main culprits were Peter and Lili, who were constantly trying to get the Belarusian involved with their games, despite her being three years older.

She never accepted their invitations, but they kept on asking.

They were determined that today was going to be the day. Knowing how much Natalya loved puppets, they had pooled their pocket money together to buy a pretty family set.

Lili was the one who approached her this time, knocking the door timidly. "Natalya?" she called into the room.

Natalya opened the door with her usual frown. "What?"

"Would you like to come play with Peter and I?" asked Lili, not letting Natalya's tone dampen her beaming smile. "We bought new puppets and we thought you'd like them."

Peeking behind Lili to see Peter holding the box of marionettes, Natalya's expression softened. She stepped out of her bedroom, closing the door behind her.

Lili smiled, grabbing hold of the Belarusian's hand. She guided her to an empty room where she and Peter always played together.

"You know the song 'Little Boxes', right?" asked Peter, carefully removing the new puppets from their box.

Natalya nodded, choosing a puppet to play with.

"Good," Lili picked up a puppet, not really caring which one she got, and sat down, motioning for Natalya to do the same. "Let's make our puppets sing."

Peter smiled, making his puppet dance before singing.

"Little boxes on the hillside,  
Little boxes made of ticky tacky,  
Little boxes on the hillside,  
Little boxes all the same."

Lili joined in with the next part, making her puppet dance in circles around Peter's.

"There's a pink one and a green one,  
And a blue one and a yellow one,  
And they're all made out of ticky tacky,  
And they all look just the same."

Then, Peter pulled his puppet away, so Lili's was on her own.

"And the people in the houses,  
All went to the university,  
Where they were put in boxes,  
And they came out all the same."

With the next line, Peter brought his puppet back.

"And there's doctors and lawyers,  
And business executives,  
And they're all made out of ticky tacky,  
And they all look just the same."

Lili beckoned Natalya into the next verse, so all three of them sang together.

"And they all play on the golf course,  
And drink their martinis dry,  
And they all have pretty children,  
And the children go to school,  
And the children go to summer camp,  
And then to the university,  
Where they are put in boxes,  
And they come out all the same."

Lili and Peter pulled their puppets out of the non-existent circle, leaving Natalya to perform alone.

"The boys go into business,  
And marry and raise a family,  
In boxes made of ticky tacky,  
And they all look just the same."

Smiling towards the Belarusian, Lili danced her puppet back into the circle, followed by Peter.

"There's a pink one and a green one,  
And a blue one and a yellow one,  
And they're all made out of ticky tacky,  
And they all look just the same."

Natalya laughed quietly along with Peter and Lili, glad that she'd allowed herself to have fun with them both.

* * *

**End Note: We got some French sadness, some Italian happiness and some Belarusian cuteness! YAY! Oh, wow. Guys, it's like, chapter fourteen already! There haven't been any proper Lovino moments since chapter ten. I think I'm subconsciously saving all of his energy for what I've got planned *grins evilly* I'm thinking, either next chapter, of the chapter after that, Lovino's going to kick off. Also, soon enough, Gilbert will be back, YAY!  
****The song for this chapter is Little Boxes by Walk Off The Earth.  
****~Lolly xXx**


	15. Hallelujah

She could hear them. Her father and whoever he'd brought home this time. Their loud, drunken voices could easily be heard through the floorboards.

"Don't you have a kid?"

"She's sleeping by now."

Wrong.

"I thought you had a son?"

Her father laughed loudly. If she was sleeping before, that would have woken her up.

"I wish!"

Eliza felt her heart wrench painfully in her chest. She'd never be who her father wanted her to be. Which meant he'd never love her.

"How old is she?"

"About six."

She was nine.

Elizabeta felt tears form in her eyes. Her own father didn't even know how old she was.

She burrowed under the covers, trying to block out the sounds of drunken merriment.

Things were different before mama left.

* * *

She paced around the room, cradling her baby in her arms, singing a gentle lullaby.

They'd be fine, right?

They didn't need him!

"You're all I need, aren't you?" she cooed at her six month old son. "Yes, you. All I need is you. You're my everything, Roddy. I don't know where I'd be without you."

Where would she be without him? She'd still be in a relationship, that's for sure.

No! She couldn't start blaming Roderich for this. He never asked to be born.

Her predicament was her own stupid fault for not insisting on using protection.

She was snapped out of her daze when the infant in her arms began crying. She rocked him gently, shushing him and peppering his chubby cheeks with kisses.

"Shh, it's okay Roddy. Mama's here, mama's got you. Mama loves you, Roddy. And you love mama, right? Because mama loves you so much. Please don't cry, Roddy. _Please_!"

She was barely aware of the tears rapidly spilling down her own face.

"Mama loves you, Roddy. Please don't cry. _Please_! Please, Roddy, stop crying!" she sobbed violently, pulling her baby tightly to her chest and she slid down the wall. Her eyes drifted over to the medicine cabinet.

Roderich would have a better life without her.

* * *

Arthur felt like bursting into tears as soon as he walked through the door.

His mother was passed out on the sofa again and Peter was wailing in his cot upstairs.

Setting down his schoolbag, Arthur bolted upstairs, lifting his baby brother out of the cot. "Shh, Peter. Don't cry, I'm back." he cooed, rocking the toddler back and forth.

He carried him down the stairs, grimacing in disgust when he saw the dirty needle on the living room floor.

Unfortunately, this was not the first time he's seen his mother in this state, and Arthur very much doubted it'd be the last.

He sat Peter on the bottom step and told him to be very still. He clambered over the baby gate and slipped into the kitchen to fill one of Peter's bottles with juice.

When he returned, he handed the bottle to Peter before climbing back over the gate and lifting his brother onto his hip. "Let's go play in Arthur's room." he said, carrying the two year old back upstairs.

* * *

Claudette was on her knees, holding her son as close as she possibly could. "This isn't forever." she promised, kissing Francis' face. "I'll be back for you very soon. No more than two months." she hooked her little finger around her son's. "Pinkie promise!"

"We'll take very good care of him, Mrs. Bonnefoy." said Jenny, placing a hand on Francis' shoulder.

Claudette nodded, dabbing her eyes. She kissed Francis again and again. "I'm going to miss you so much." she wept. "Now, you be a good boy and do everything the care workers tell you. _Maman_ will see you soon." She got to her feet, bending down to press another kiss to her son's cheek.

Francis' father, who had been silent, almost stoic, throughout the whole thing, ruffled Francis' hair. "Be good." he ordered, simply.

He looped an arm around Claudette's waist and guided her out the door.

"I love you, _mon bèbè_!" she called, waving goodbye.

Francis stood, watching numbly as his parents walked away.

* * *

Lately, the fights had gotten worse.

Their father became more violent and their mother went through more foundation than ever in a weak attempt to cover the marks he left on her.

It always started with whispered shouting.

They'd hear them begin to hiss at each other, trying and failing to keep the boys from noticing that they were arguing at all.

Then they got louder. And louder.

Then Matthew would crawl into bed with Alfred because he was just so scared.

The fighting would escalate until the boys could hear things being thrown and their mother sobbing.

Alfred tried his best to stop Matthew hearing those things. He'd pull the blanket over their heads, put his headphones over Mattie's ears and cover his own with his hands. But it didn't help.

They could still hear their mother's desperate cries.

* * *

"You can't just pawn him off on me, Fernandez."

"Please! It's just until I get back on my feet!"

"Look, I know it's been difficult since Conchita-"

"_Don't_!"

"My point is, Antonio is your son, no matter how hard you're finding it right now you have to push through it for him."

"I just don't think that I'm the best for him right now."

"I didn't want to say this, but have you considered... putting him into care? Just until you get back on your feet."

"Conchita would kill me."

"Conchita would rather Antonio go into care then watch you slowly destroying him as well as yourself.

"Si, you have a point... Okay, tomorrow I'll take Antonio to the care home."

Neither man was aware that Antonio was very much awake, and had heard everything they just said.

* * *

**End Note: A few really short snapshots of some of the resident's pasts. Sorry if this chapter is a little more angst-ridden than usual, I'm in a really bad mood. Feel free to ignore this, but I need to vent. The other day I overheard my boyfriend's mother insinuating that my own mother doesn't care about me. She said "Kassy's mother might not give a shit what time she comes home, but I actually care about you." and her words have been playing on my mind a lot and it's really got me down.  
****The song for this chapter is Hallelujah by Michael Henry and Justin Robinett. Not the original, but a damn good cover.  
****~Lolly xXx**


	16. Emily

"Where do you keep disappearing to?" asked Lovino, glaring up at Feliciano from behind his book.

Feliciano turned and smiled, quickly scribbling on his board. 'Ludwig and Kiku are helping me with maths.' He didn't want to tell Lovino about the speech lessons. Not until he was able to speak properly, anyway. He couldn't be entirely certain how his brother would react, but he really needed to learn to speak.

He waved as he slipped out of the room, making his way down to the classroom.

Lovino huffed as his brother closed the door, going back to pretending to read. Ever since Feliciano had been taking extra math lessons with Ludwig and Kiku he had become incredibly lonely. He'd never admit it, but he was really missing his brother.

He had absolutely no desire to form any sort of friendship with any of the residents of Apple Tree House. The Hungarian girl was nice, and he supposed the Spaniard wasn't really _that_ bad, but they weren't Feliciano.

Not that he needed Feliciano, it was just nice to have him around.

After a few minutes of doing sod all and becoming increasingly bored, Lovino decided to wander around the house and see if there was anything better to do than lie on his bed and pretend to care about whether this detective gets her badge taken off her or not.

He yanked himself up from his bed and walked out of the room, headed nowhere in particular.

He ended up in the living room after being spotted wandering by Antonio, who insisted he keep the Italian company.

Lovino had a headache already.

* * *

Two months.

It didn't feel like it had been that long.

To Gilbert it felt as though he'd just started getting to know the kids then, all of a sudden, he had to say goodbye to them.

He swore to himself that he wouldn't cry when it came time to leave, but even now, as he packed his things back into his suitcase, he was trying his hardest not to let any tears fall from his ruby eyes.

"Gilbert?" A quiet voice from the doorway brought him out of his daze. He shook his head, letting his gaze fall on the little girl in the doorway. "Hey, Lyanni." he smiled.

Lyanni stepped into the room, timidly. "Are you going to come back?" she asked, frowning.

Gilbert frowned too. "I'm afraid not, _Schätzchen_."

"Why not?" Lyanni's eyes filled with tears.

"Hey," Gilbert lifted the little girl onto his hip, wiping away her tears with his sleeve. "Come on, _Kleine_, don't cry." he murmured softly.

Burying her face in Gilbert's shoulder, Lyanni continued to sob. "B-but I'm going t-to miss y-you."

Gilbert began gently rocking the weeping child back and forth. "I'm going to miss you too, pest." he whispered. He awkwardly shifted Lyanni so he was holding her up with one arm and pulled one of his t-shirt out of his suitcase. "Here. You get to keep my favourite shirt."

He set Lyanni down on the bed, putting the t-shirt over her head and chuckling when the material engulfed her. It was more like a dress on her.

The little girl smiled, wiping away a few tears. She looked down at the t-shirt she was now wearing. It was white with the words '**I'M SORRY, I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THE SOUND OF HOW AWESOME I AM**' emblazoned on the front in bold, friendly letters.

"Really, you'll let me keep it?" asked Lyanni.

Gilbert ruffled her hair. "Of course. It's your's now." he replied, continuing his packing.

* * *

This was it.

After this, no more lessons.

He was finally done!

"Now," Kiku picked up Feliciano's board, setting it down out of the Italian's reach. "Try telling us something."

Feliciano nodded, a determined expression on his face. He took a deep breath.

"L-Lud…wig and Kik-ku a-are Fe…lic-ciano's be-best friends."

Ludwig smiled, ruffling Feliciano's hair. "Well done."

Feliciano was beaming. He'd done it! He spoke!

Kiku nodded with a faint smile. "Hai, good job, Feliciano."

"I h-have a s-stutter."

"That should get better with time." said Ludwig.

"I-I wond-der if Lo-Lovino will b-be ma-mad."

Ludwig frowned. "Why does it matter what he thinks?" he asked. "I know he's your brother, but you don't have to do everything he says."

Feliciano nodded. "I kn-know, but h-he's re-really unsta-stable lately."

"What the _**fuck**_?!"

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.

Lovino was stood in the doorway, glaring into the room with a confused looking Antonio behind him.

"Feli can talk now?" Antonio asked, smiling his usual oblivious smile.

Feliciano didn't respond to him. He was too preoccupied with the betrayed look on his brother's face. He'd never seen Lovino so angry.

"You learned to speak." he muttered.

Feliciano only nodded.

"You learned to speak when I told you not to."

Another nod.

"Feliciano, _I'm_ the only one who needs to understand you!" Lovino was yelling at this point. "You don't _need_ to speak, you don't even need your board because _I_ can interpret for you!"

Now Feliciano understood. He suddenly knew why Lovino didn't want Feliciano to speak, and why he was so mad when Feliciano was given his whiteboard.

Lovino needed Feliciano to need him.

"Lo-Lovin-no…"

"Don't _talk_ to me!" Lovino tried to launch himself forward, but found himself unable to move. He looked back to see Antonio holding him back. "Calm down, Lovi." said the Spaniard, with a stern tone that no one in the room would ever think he was capable of.

The eldest Italian thrashed in his hold, desperately trying to wriggle free. "Don't tell me to calm down, bastard! Let go of me!" he screamed.

"Lovin-no, l-listen." Feliciano struggled with his words, but tried his hardest to get his point across. "M-me learn-ning to sp-speak won't effe-fect how mu-much I n-need you. Y-you're my big bro-brother and I-I'll alwa-ways need you. B-but I need t-to be able to h-have frie-friends too, a-and sp-speak and be m-my own per-person. No-none of this m-means that I wo-won't ne-need you an-anymore."

Lovino stilled for a moment, listening to everything his brother was saying. And he really seemed to be taking it in. a few stray tears slipped down his face. "N-no!" he stuttered, shaking his head. "**NO**! You only need me, Feliciano! No one else knows you!" He began struggling against Antonio again as he yelled.

Antonio held him tighter, trying to calm him down, and failing miserably.

* * *

_Emily,  
__Emily,  
__Please don't scream at me.  
__Emily,  
__Emily,  
__Tell me what you've seen._

* * *

**End Note: Wow, guys. I just want to thank you all for being there for me yesterday. You made me feel so much better, I wish I could hug you all. In other news, I broke my toe yesterday. Didn't realise it until nine and a half hours later. I'm so badass! I wish I'd done something good so I could have an awesome story to tell, but I didn't, I just stubbed it on the Wii as I was walking passed it. That's the shittest way to break a toe ever. And it really hurts!  
****Translations:-  
****Schätzchen - Sweetie.  
****Kleine - Little one.  
****Feel free to correct me.  
****The song for this chapter is Emily by AlterRed, which I recommend you listen to here (YouTube) watch?v=K2oe6EJLOlk  
****~Lolly xXx**


	17. October

There was a special meeting today.

It was because of the meeting that Lovino and Feliciano were currently in the room that Dr. Laurinaitis used for his counselling sessions with their new social worker, Ravis Galante (Anna, their old social worker was on maternity leave).

Due to his shy and somewhat fearful nature, Jenny doubted that the Latvian could handle Lovino, but his record proved that he was very good at his job.

"So," Ravis sat himself in the chair opposite the boys. "As you boys know, later today there's going to be a meeting discussing what happened yesterday." He paused, giving the boys a chance to speak. When neither of them did, he carried on. "All I really want is to hear your side of things so I can give you both a fair representation."

Lovino had been glaring at the floor since he'd been called in. He didn't want to look anywhere else. He didn't want to see the fake concern on the social worker's face or the crocodile tears in his brother's eyes. They were both bullshitting anyway. Feliciano wasn't really crying. He was just trying to make Lovino feel bad. Well, that wasn't going to work this time!

"Lovino, why don't you tell your side first?"

Even at the sound of Ravis' voice, Lovino kept glaring at that one spot on the carpet. "Feliciano _doesn't_ need to speak and he _doesn't_ need friends." he muttered, wringing his hands. "All he needs is _me_."

"Lo-Lovi-"

"Shut up!" spat the eldest Italian, clutching his arms and digging his nails in, again. "I don't want to heard your voice, Feliciano! Just shut _up_!" Lovino jumped to his feet, dashing out of the room and slamming the door behind him.

Ravis sighed. "Well, maybe you could tell me your version of things, Feliciano?"

Feliciano shook his head, a few tears dripping off his eyelashes. "I n-never wanted fra-fratello t-to ha-hate m-me." he whispered. He sat there fro a moment before he leapt to his feet and also left the room, going to opposite way to Lovino.

With another sigh, Ravis closed his notebook. It looked like he'd just have to be quiet at the meeting.

* * *

Jenny coughed, smoothing down her outfit. "Everyone," she said, gaining the attention of the staff in the meeting.

Around the table sat Jenny, Yekaterina, Dr. Laurinaitis, Ravis Galante and Gilbert.

"As you know, we are here to discuss Lovino's episode yesterday and how we can put a preventative measure in place." Jenny folded her hands on the desk. "First off, I'd like to give Dr. Laurinaitis the chance to speak."

Dr. Laurinaitis nodded, opening his file as he got to his feet. "Well, Lovino has been coming to see me since he moved here, and so far, I haven't been able to get more out of him than his other counsellors." he said, shifting some papers. "On thing I have been able to determine is that he disguises his need for Feliciano as a 'brotherly obligation'. He feels that if he can make out that Feliciano needs him then social services won't separate them." He pushed up his wiry glasses, shutting his folder and sitting back down.

"Thank you." Jenny sighed. "Mr. Galante, is there anything you'd like to add?"

Ravis reluctantly got to his feet. "I-I'm afraid I wasn't really able to talk to the twins. Lovino stormed off and Feliciano didn't want to speak." He fiddled with his shirt, nervously. "He sis tell me that he didn't want his brother to hate him, but that was it."

"Right," Jenny looked about ready to give up. "Well, thank you for trying." she said. "I suppose… and I really don't want to do this, but maybe putting them in separate care homes would be in their best interests, right now."

Gilbert, who had been silent until this point, got to his feet. "Um, I know I'm really only here as part of my training, but I don't think that's a good idea." he said. "Actually, it's a pretty terrible one."

With a shake of her head, Jenny sighed again. "It's our _only option_, Gilbert." she stressed.

"No, Jenny. Think about it." Gilbert was not going to let this go. "Splitting them up will only make Lovino worse."

"And what makes you say that?"

Gilbert smirked, lifting an eyebrow. "Do you remember the way I was when Ludwig and I first arrived here?"

This caused Jenny to chuckle. Oh, yes. She remembered.

"Seriously. We need to get Lovino to somehow see that all he needs is to make a friend here."

"How do you suppose we do that?" asked Yekaterina.

Gilbert ran a hand through his hair. "Leave that to me."

* * *

Walking down the corridor, Gilbert was going over his plan in his head. He came to an abrupt halt outside the Vargas twins' bedroom.

Inside, he could hear the faint sound of someone sobbing. He sighed and pushed open the door. He felt his confidence slip away. He wasn't sure he could deal with Lovino, since even Dr. Laurinaitis found it difficult to talk to him. Still, it was his responsibility now.

"Lovino?"

The eldest Vargas didn't respond, he just kept crying into his pillow.

Gilbert walked into the room, closing the door behind him, and sat on the Italian's bed, laying a hand on his back. "What's up, Lovino?"

Normally, Lovino would have told him to leave him alone, but this time he pushed himself up on his arms, wiped his face and tried to stop himself from crying. He took a deep breath, tears still running freely down his face. "I… I re-really thought that… that Felici…ano ne-needed m-me." he sobbed, biting his lip.

"Oh, Lovi." Gilbert pulled the older Italian to him, rubbing his back. "He does need you. But he needs to have friends too."

Instead of pulling away, Lovino shocked Gilbert by wrapping his arms around his shoulders and burying his face in the elder's shirt. Gilbert continued rubbing his back, wondering what the hell caused this sudden change in his behaviour. "You too." he said. "I'm sure if you tried, you could make everyone here your friend."

Lovino shook his head, pulling away from the comfort of Gilbert's hug. "No one here would want to be my friend after the way I've acted." he muttered, pulling his knees up to his chest.

Gilbert smiled. "Don't be so sure." he said. "I'll be right back" He got up from the bed and left the room, rushing down the stairs and into the living room. "Toni!" he yelled, pointing at the Spaniard, giving him a mini heart attack. "Follow me."

Antonio nodded, following blindly, as he does. He raised an eyebrow when they stopped outside Lovino and Feliciano's bedroom. He turned to Gilbert, who only ushered him inside.

"Lovi?" Antonio frowned at the sight of the broken down mess that Lovino had turned himself into. "Are you okay, Lovi?"

Lovino glanced up, wiping his face again. He shook his head.

Antonio sat next to him on the bed, cautiously putting an arm around him. He let out a quiet gasp as Lovino flung himself forward, wrapping his arms tightly around the Spaniard's waist.

"Hey," Antonio returned his hug, slowly combing his fingers through the Italian's chestnut hair. "What's the matter?"

Lovino rested his head on Antonio's shoulder, hiding his face in the crook of his neck. "I don't h-have anyone anymore." He sobbed. "I don't have my p-parents, I-I don't have Nonno... I don't e-even have Fe-Feli anymore!" His grip on Antonio's waist tightened.

Antonio held the broken Italian close, gently rocking him soothingly as he wept into his shirt.

"I'm sorry." hiccupped Lovino, sitting up and wiping his face.

Antonio tilted his head. "What for?" He asked, mentally whining at the loss of Lovino's hug.

"Everything." Replied the Italian. "Everything that I've done since I arrived here."

With a sigh, Antonio shimmied forward, wrapping his arms back around the eldest Vargas. "None of that matters." He assured.

"Yes, it does. I've been such an awful person and I-"

"You were sick, Lovino." Antonio interrupted.

Lovino glanced to the side, biting his lip. "I still owe everyone here an apology." He muttered. His eyes fell on the photograph at his bedside. A family photo from his childhood, taken about a month before his parents' accident. "Specially Feliciano."

Antonio followed Lovino's gaze, smiling at the photograph. He resisted the urge to tell Lovino how much of a cute kid he was. "They all understand, Lovi. And they've already forgiven you." He said, pulling his eyes away from the photo.

Lovino paused. How could they all understand? How could anyone be understanding of someone acting like such a jerk when there was absolutely no need for it? "I still want to say sorry." He replied.

Antonio smiled. "I think that's very big of you." he whispered. "And, for what it's worth… you'll always have me, Lovi."

* * *

**End Note: AND JUST LIKE THAT THIS STORY HAS ALL THREE BALTICS! So yeah, I got rid of Anna and invited Ravis to take her place. Also, YAY! Lovi's getting better. Bit by bit. I'm sorry if this all seems a bit rushed, I really have no excuse other than I wanted to get it done!  
****The song for this chapter is October by Evanescence.  
****~Lolly xXx**


	18. Imitation Black

True to his word, Lovino apologised to Feliciano, Kiku and even to Ludwig ("This doesn't mean that I like you, bastard!").

Feliciano just pulled his brother into the tightest hug he'd ever given, crying and chanting over and over that he was so happy that Lovino didn't hate him.

Lovino was still a bit clingy, but he now projected his clinginess onto Antonio, who appeared to love the attention.

And now, Feliciano was free to speak and be friends with who he pleased without having to worry about Lovino having an episode. And at the moment, he was enjoying shocking people with his ability to speak.

Elizabeta was busily cleaning the dishes when he found her, so her back was facing him.

He smiled, sitting at the table. "I-I thought it was A-Alfred's turn to d-do the dishes t-today?" he asked.

With a sigh, Elizabeta flicked her hair out of her face. "It was. But if I don't do them, they won't get done." She had placed three more plates on the draining board before she realised that she didn't recognise that voice.

She turned with a raised eyebrow, her eyes widening when they settled on Feliciano. "Feli?" She smiled. "You can talk?"

Feliciano smiled and nodded. "Si~!" he chimed.

"Wow, I'm so proud of you!" She dropped the bowl in her hand, letting it clink against the other items in the sink, and pulled Feliciano into a bruising hug.

"I w-want to thank y-you, Eliza." said the youngest Vargas, laying his head on Elizabeta's chest.

Elizabeta began absent mindedly running her fingers though Feliciano's hair. "Whatever for?" she asked.

Feliciano chuckled. "What do you m-mean 'what for'?" He looked up at the Hungarian through his fringe. "You've l-looked out for m-me and Lovi since w-we got here."

With another bright smiled, Elizabeta pecked Feliciano's cheek. "That's because I love and care about you both. You two are like my babies!" she giggled.

"Eliza," Feliciano let his eyes slip closed. "Can I call you mama?" he asked, snuggling up closer to the Hungarian.

Elizabeta blushed, her eyes widening slightly, before a small, warm smile settled on her face. "Of course you can, dear." she whispered.

* * *

Monique let out a high pitched squeal, managing to evade capture once again. "You'll have to try harder than that, _frère_!" she taunted, poking out her tongue.

Turning on the spot, Francis dashed after his sister again, reaching out to grab her around the waist. He missed, again. This time, instead of trying to catch her by the waist, Francis reached out and caught her wrists. "Got you!"

Monique squealed and giggled, struggling to get out of her brother's grasp.

"I'm a little teapot, short and stout. Here is my handle, here is my spout." Francis sang, making Monique do the actions.

More cute giggles spilled from Monique as she attempted to wriggle free.

A loud honk from outside alerted the siblings that it was time to go.

Francis let go of Monique's wrists, lifting her onto his hip and kissing her cheek as he carried her over to the door.

Claudette was sat in her car, waving.

Ignoring her, Francis pressed another kiss to Monique's face. "I'll see you next week, sweetheart." he said, setting her down so she could run to her mother's car.

"Bye bye, Francis!" called the six year old as she climbed into the back seat.

Francis stood on the door and waved her off before walking towards the taxi that would take him back to Apple Tree House.

* * *

"…and then I said 'Because I'm awesome.' and the little girl I was telling you about, Lyanni just looked up at me and said 'Oh, Gilbert! You always say that!' so I just smiled at her and said 'That's not true. Sometimes I sleep.' She thought that was so funny!" Gilbert smiled brightly as he relayed stories of Saint Julia's to Matthew, who smiled and giggled as he listened politely.

Taking a deep breath, Matthew tucked his hair behind his ear. "So, um…" he started. "Have you managed to talk to Ludwig yet?"

Gilbert's grin fell. He'd been putting off talking to Ludwig since he got back. He knew he was going to have to do it at some point, but he really didn't want to remind his brother of things his subconscious had deemed terrible enough to block out.

He sighed. "No." he admitted.

"Are you going to?"

"I don't know." Gilbert ran a hand though his hair, letting out a frustrated sigh. "I… I want to tell him, but at the same time… I don't." He stared at the floor for a few minutes. "I'm going to wait for a little while, then I'll tell him." he decided.

* * *

Sometimes, getting lost in music was just the best thing to do.

Roderich didn't even know what he was playing anymore, but his fingers still moved over the keys, as if on autopilot. It wasn't until he heard the door opening and Elizabeta's voice humming along with the tune that he was snapped out of his daze. "Good afternoon, Elizabeta." he greeted, putting the cover back over the keys.

"Oh, no. Don't stop!" protested the Hungarian, settling down in her comfortable chair. "I love listening to you play." She smiled warmly, folding her hands in her lap.

Roderich smiled back, lifting the cover back up. "Any requests?" he chuckled.

Placing a finger on her chin, Elizabeta hummed in thought. "How about Imitation Black?"

With a nod, Roderich positioned his fingers and began playing.

Elizabeta smiled with closed eyes as she listened to the intro, preparing herself to start singing.

"Twisted reality,  
Love is a painful mystery,  
Why is my heart so insincere?"

She paused for breath.

"The world's painted in black,  
Love is just what my heart lacks,  
My whole life's shrouded in darkness."

Neither Roderich nor Elizabeta noticed the Vargas twins stood by the door, peering inside.

Not knowing they had an audience, Roderich joined in with Elizabeta's singing.

"I've always wanted to tell you I love you,  
There is just one thing that I would like to say,  
These impulses that run throughout my body,  
Sooner then you'll just end up broken."

Elizabeta stopped, allowing Roderich to continue by himself.

"To love and be loved to the point where I'm loosing my mind,  
This sweet, burning kiss that we share is an imitation."

Then, they swapped, Eliza singing, and Roderich being quiet.

"Loosing my senses, my consciousness is fading away,  
These overflowing emotions are making me paint the world over in black."

Roderich played out the end of the song, smiling warmly. "You have such a beautiful voice, Elizabeta." he said, not even turning to look at her.

Elizabeta giggled. "Why, thank you, Roderich." she replied, blushing.

The twins looked at each other and nodded, deciding it was best that they leave.

* * *

**End Note: Matthew Williams, helping guys sort their shit out since 1867 (Anyone who can tell me why it's that particular date gets to hug Feli! AND GOOGLE IS CHEATING!). Norway's Girl asked me if last chapter was the end, so just to clarify, until I actually announce that it's the end, just assume that there'll be another chapter. Also, AusHun, anyone?  
One more thing. I HAVE OVER 100 REVIEWS? Excuse me while I ASDFGHJKL!  
****The song for this chapter is Imitation Black Piano Version by VanaN'Ice.  
****~Lolly xXx**


	19. Fallout

Gradually, Feliciano's speech improved and he no longer spoke with a stutter. However, there was another small problem that arose.

Getting him to shut up.

Since his stutter disappeared, Ludwig had only seen him quiet twice, and one of those times, he was asleep (The other time, he was curled up at the German's side with his thumb in his mouth).

But, even if the younger Italian's constant yapping was sort of irritating, Ludwig couldn't deny that he was really pleased that his friend had learned to speak.

Both of the twins seemed happier now. Lovino was still sort of iffy when it came to emotions, but nowhere near as bad as he used to be.

Ludwig and Kiku were trying to get on with their homework as Feliciano nattered on about... something... Ludwig had stopped listening.

"And then, the one with the pretty blue eyes put her sisters up on a stage and had a big concert, but first it was just her, but when she started playing, her sisters had colours again and they joined in, then everyone had colours, even the evil black and white clown, but he wasn't evil anymore when he had his colours back, ve."

Kiku, who was barely listening, nodded politely. "Feliciano," he tilted his head staring at his friend inquisitively. "I've noticed something about your speech."

Feliciano's eyes went wide. "What? What is it? Is it bad?" he panicked.

"You seem to have acquired a verbal tick."

"Ve? Really?"

"Hai." Kiku smiled. "You may not realise it, but every now and then you say 've'. It seems involuntary."

Feliciano giggled. "Oh, that." he said. "I say that on purpose."

Ludwig glanced up from his textbook. "Seriously?" he asked. "Why?"

"It's fun and easy to say. Ve~" Feliciano smiled brightly. "Remember when you were teaching me to speak and I had difficulty saying the ro... ro..."

"Romaji." Kiku supplied.

"Si, the romaji sounds. Well, I had no problem with ve. It was really easy."

Ludwig raised an eyebrow. "So you thought you'd just say it at random intervals?"

"Si~" Feliciano practically sang.

Kiku and Ludwig shared a look of 'we will never understand him'.

* * *

Lately, Alfred had been getting more and more letters. And he kept telling Jenny to rip them up, burn them, do anything, just don't give them to him and do not let Matthew read them.

That's how Jenny found herself in this predicament. She knew that if she gave this letter to Matthew, Alfred would be mad. However, this letter was addressed to Matthew.

She didn't have much time to consider her options before a knock sounded on the office door. "Come in."

Through the door walked the last person she wanted to see right now.

Matthew Williams.

"Hey, Matthew. How can I help you?" asked the care worker, resting her chin atop her hands.

Matthew smiled. "I was just wondering if you'd seen Alfred around?"

"No, sweetie, I haven't." Jenny replied.

With a nod f thanks, Matthew turned to leave, stopping when Jenny called him back.

She pulled the envelope from her draw, holding it out to Matthew. "Please, try not to let Alfred know you have it."

Matthew took the letter from Jenny and examined the writing. He didn't say a word. He simply gave one last look to Jenny and left.

He made his way up to his bedroom, settling on his bed before he took a real look at the envelope.

_Matthew Williams._

It was addressed to him. Him. Not Alfred.

He flipped the envelope over, staring at the back. The return address. If Matthew needed any sort of confirmation of the sender, there it was.

It took him about three minutes to finally open the envelope and pull out the letter.

_Dear Matthew.  
__I'm fully aware that you may hate my guts at this moment, but please read this letter. Alfred has been ignoring me and I really want to explain myself to you boys.  
__I'm so sorry that I've never paid as much attention to you as I have to your brother. There's no excuse for it, but you're so much like her, Matthew. Even before she died, the thought of you becoming exactly like her hurt like hell.  
__Matthew, I want both you and Alfred to know that what happened that night was not my intention at all. You know how she and I used to fight, it just excelled and excelled until it got out of hand.  
__I would like a chance to explain to you in full. Please, write back to me, Matthew.  
__Dad._

By the time Matthew had reading finished the letter he was shaking. He'd never been this angry in his life. Without even thinking, he grabbed his notebook and pen and began writing a reply.

_Stephan.  
__Don't you dare call yourself my dad. You are no father of mine.  
__Damn strait, I hate you! Alfred has every right to ignore you after what you've done.  
__It hurt that I was so much like mom? I'm sorry, but I fail to see how that makes any sense. My mother was an amazing person. She was strong enough to put up with you and bring her sons up on her own, because God knows you were no help.  
__How you used to fight? No, but I do remember quite plainly how you used to beat her. You brutally beat my mother to death and you're making excuses? Why don't you cut the crap, Stephan? You're already in prison and neither of your children want anything to do with you, so why bother? Just give up.  
_Brûler en enfer.  
_Matthew._

Slamming his notebook shut, Matthew decided that now would be a good time to curl up and cry on his bed.

* * *

"Aww!" Antonio cooed, picking up the small, framed photograph that Francis had just set down in their shared room. "Is this your little sister?"

Francis smiled. "_Oui_, that's Monique." he replied. "Isn't she beautiful?"

"She's so adorable!" The Spaniard held the photo out to his room mate. "Why are you still here if you can be at home with this little sweetheart?" he asked.

Francis' smile fell. "As much as I love my baby sister, I still can't forgive Claudette." he sighed, taking the photo frame from his friend.

"So you're okay with only seeing your sister once a week?"

"Of course I'm not! I wish I could see her everyday just... just without Claudette!"

They were both silent for a long time.

Unsurprisingly, it was Antonio who broke the silence. "You do realise that you're going to have to at least talk to her at some point, don't you?"

"Oui." Francis gave another quiet sigh. "I know."

* * *

**End Note: There are more hugs up for grabs to anyone who can name the cartoon that Feliciano is talking about in this chapter. Also, check out Mattie's OOC ranting! HE CAN BE BADASS WHEN HE WANTS TO BE!  
****Oh, and I have a reply to the anon who reviewed last chapter. I have one thing to say to you, sir or madam. _SPOILERS!_ It _is _going to happen, just not yet. Not sure when... soon, I hope.  
****Translation time:  
****Brûler en enfer – Burn in hell.  
****Once again, feel free to correct me.  
****The song for this chapter is Fallout by Marianas Trench.  
****~Lolly xXx**


	20. Hello

When you're in a bad mood, the best thing to do is to play music as loud as you possibly can and try to forget about your woes, right?

Headphones in.  
Music on.  
Volume up.  
Life is great.

Well, whether this was the right method of dealing with your issues or not, it was what Matthew was doing.

He'd been in a foul mood ever since he'd read that letter. He even ignored Alfred, who got pretty annoyed himself but took it out on a foot/soccer ball by kicking it against the wall (and getting in trouble for almost breaking a window).

Matthew didn't respond when someone knocked on his door. Largely because he had Josh Ramsay yelling into his ear about being beside the one he loves. But even if he could hear, he probably would have ignored it.

The knock sounded again. "Mattie?" It was Alfred. Why Alfred was knocking on the door to his own room is a mystery. He probably didn't want to get shouted at again.

Matthew didn't shout often, which made it ten times scarier when he did.

Alfred opened the door, peering inside. Matthew was lying curled up on his bed with his bear tucked under his arm, so Alfred assumed he was asleep and it was safe to enter.

He shut the door and threw himself down on his own bed. Life was just being a little bitch lately, wasn't it? First he had to deal with Stephan's nonsense, then Matthew totally flips his shit for some unknown reason. With the way things were going, Alfred would have lost the will to live by Christmas.

"How long have you been here?" Matthew's voice frightened Alfred out of his wits. He let out a 'manly' yelp and jumped backwards. "I just got here." he replied, once he'd caught his breath.

Matthew just hummed and stretched, putting his iPod on his bedside table.

"You ready to tell me what's crawled up your ass lately?" asked Alfred.

"None of your fucking business." Matthew snapped back.

Alfred grimaced. "Mattie, please don't swear. It doesn't sound right coming from you." he said.

Pulling himself into a sitting position, Matthew shrugged.

"Mattie," Alfred pouted. He hated that Matthew didn't talk to him anymore. They used to tell each other everything. Lately, he was lucky if he got a 'hi' in passing.

Matthew sighed. "I'll tell you when I'm ready." he said.

* * *

"Roderich?" Yekaterina called into the music room, knowing that's exactly where Roderich would be.

Aforementioned Austrian glanced up from the baby grand.

Yekaterina smiled. "Jenny would like a word with you, dear."

Roderich nodded and got to his feet, following Yekaterina out and to the office.

Looking away from the computer screen, Jenny smiled. "Hi, Roderich. Take a seat."

Sitting down in the chair in front of Jenny's desk, Roderich raised an eyebrow. He'd never once been called into the office, so what was going on?

Jenny sighed, going over to the filing cabinet and pulling out Roderich's file. "Roderich," she said, sitting back down. "When you were first brought here, I was given something that was to be passed onto you when you reached eighteen." she explained, opening the file and flipping through, searching for something. "However, lately I have been talking with your social worker and we believe that you're mature enough to have it now." She stopped when she reached a polly-pocket, reaching in and pulling out an old envelope. She placed it on the desk and pushed it towards the teen opposite her.

Roderich examined the envelope. The now off-white paper was barely held together. This thing must have been at least sixteen years o-

His eyes widened as realisation dawned upon him. He looked up and Jenny, who simply smiled and nodded. In a shaky voice, he thanked Jenny and left, heading strait up to his bedroom, where he pulled his quilt over his head and opened the envelope.

The letter was so old. The paper was off-white and the ink was faded, but still readable.

_My dear son Roderich.  
__First off, happy 18th birthday.  
__You're probably wondering why I did what I did. If you're thinking that it was your fault, don't. I loved you more than I ever thought possible. You were my everything, Roderich. Everything and so much more. I did it to give you a better life. As soon as you were born, your father left us, and I couldn't bring up a baby on my own. I knew that putting you into care was the best option. You'd be fostered and maybe adopted and you'd be much happier for it, but I didn't want to live without you. You were my life, baby. I loved you so, so much.  
__This isn't a suicide note, and I shall be very unhappy if it is considered as one, not that it will matter. All this is, is my final goodbye to you.  
__I hope that what I've left in with this letter will always help you remember how much your mama loved you and that I'll always be watching over my baby boy, no matter what.  
__All my love,  
__Mama xxx_

Roderich wiped his eyes, putting the letter down and picking up the envelope, tipping the contents onto his hand.

A simple, silver chain with a Triquetra pendant.

With another sniffle, Roderich lifted the chain over his head holding the pendant in his hand.

* * *

**End Note: I got this written in an hour! I'm awesome! And look at all you 90s kids getting last chapter's question right! It was an episode of The Powerpuff Girls. My favourite episode, in fact (I just admitted to having a favourite episode of a programme I should have grown out of years ago. I'm so sad). For those of you wondering, Josh Ramsay is the lead vocalist for Marianas Trench and the song mentioned is Beside You, which is lovely. Also, WHAT IS IT WITH ME AND LETTERS? That's the 3rd letter in this fic! 4Th if your count Matthew's reply. Oh, and a polly-pocket is _not _one of the dolls. It's like a plastic pouch and goes in files. I don't know what you guys would call it, but in our school we called them polly-pockets. As for the Triquetra... I googled "Austrian symbols"...  
****The song for this chapter is Hello by Evanescence.  
****~Lolly xXx**


	21. Servant of Evil

Francis sat in the chair in front of Jenny's desk, fidgeting and looking down at his feet. He felt like he was eight and he, Antonio and Gilbert had gotten into trouble again. Or he would have, had Gilbert not been sat at his own desk, getting some coursework done.

Jenny sighed. "Francis," she said, gaining the teenager's attention. "You were the one who asked for a word, but all you've done for the past five minutes is sit there looking uncomfortable. Now are you going to talk to me or not?"

"Ah, _oui_. Well..." he trailed off, trying to sort the words in his head before saying them. "I no longer want to meet Monique in the contact centre." he blurted.

Both Jenny and Gilbert stared at him in utter shock. "But Fran, I thought the two of you were getting along really well?" asked Gilbert, frowning. He'd been so happy for Francis when he began meeting with his sister.

"_Non_," Francis shook his head. "That's not quite what I meant." He cursed himself for not wording it properly. "I want to continue my contact hours with Monique but... not in the contact centre..."

Jenny smiled. "So, would you like us to ring Claudette and ask if she would allow the contact to continue at her home?" she asked, already picking up the phone.

After a moments hesitation, Francis nodded. "_Oui_, but please make sure she knows that I'm still not entirely ready to forgive her." he clarified.

Giving a curt nod and a wink, Jenny dailed the number.

* * *

Ivan gave a quiet sigh, once again shifting his sister's weight onto his opposite hip. "Natalya, may I please put you down for a moment?" he asked.

Natalya whined, burying her face in her brother's shoulder.

"Why must you cling to me so much, _mladshaya sestra_?" asked the Russian, a little aggravated by the younger one's seemingly endless need to be with him.

Tightening her grip, Natalya mumbled something that got muffled by Ivan's sweater.

"Pardon?"

Natalya lifted her head, revealing the unshed tears in her eyes. "Y-You look like p-papa." she wept. "I-I don't w-want you t-to go away like h-he did!"

Ivan frowned. He placed Natalya on the ground and knelt down so that he was eye-level with her. "Is that what you think is going to happen?" he asked, wiping away her tears with his thumb.

The little one nodded, her hands finding the edge of Ivan's scarf and holding it to her chest.

"_Glupaya devochka_. I'm never going to leave you, Natalya." The Russian answered gently, wrapping his arms around his baby sister. "You're my little Natty and I love you all the world." In a rare show of affection, he pressed his lips to Natalya's cheek. "Now dry those silly tears, _da_?"

Natalya hiccuped, rubbing away the tears. "_Da_." She nodded.

Ivan smiled. "_Khoroshaya devochka_."

The sibling's moment was soon cut short when a small voice called over to them. "Hello Natalya."

The Belarusian turned to see Lili at the end of the corridor.

"Would you like to come play with me and Peter again?" she asked.

Giving one last look to Ivan, who only smiled, Natalya nodded and skipped off, joining hands with Lili in a friendly manner, which shocked Ivan a little. Still, he was happy that his sister was finally making friends.

* * *

Taking a deep breath, Gilbert knocked on his old bedroom door, hoping he'd find his brother inside.

"_Ja_?"

It would appear that luck was on his side today.

"Hey," he called, opening the door. "I'm here to talk... if you still want to."

Ludwig looked up, initially glaring at his brother who'd promised to talk to him 'as soon as he got home'. "I don't know if I even care any more." he grumbled.

Gilbert flinched. "I'm sorry, Luddy." He sighed, sitting down on his old bed. "I had every intention of talking to you but I chickened out and... and I used the craziness that was going on as an excuse." he admitted through gritted teeth. "But, I'm here now and I'm willing to answer any questions."

Ludwig's glare softened, before fading entirely. "I just want to know why we're here, Gilbert." His voice was almost a whisper.

Giving another drawn out sigh, Gilbert ran a hand through his hair. "_Ja_," he began chewing the inside of his cheek. "Where should I begin..."

* * *

_Beep_! _Beep_! _Beep_! _Beep_!

Gilbert reached out from under the covers and slammed his fist down on his alarm, silencing the obnoxious thing. He willed himself to move. Even if he was in brutal agony, he had to get up. If not for himself, then for Ludwig.

At the thought of his brother, Gilbert sat blot upright in the bed, ignoring the pain.

Shit! What day was it?

Thursday. Good. They had school today.

Normal children loathed school. They hated getting up early, just to go and sit in a boring classroom. They hated not being able to stay in bed, or at least stay at home with their parents.

Not the Beilschmidt brothers.

What they loathed was staying home.

Easing himself from his bed, Gilbert limped across the room and shook his brother awake. "C'mon, Luddy. It's time to get up." he whispered, so as not to wake their parents.

Ludwig stirred, stretching out before sitting up. "Morn'n." he yawned, bringing a smile to Gilbert's face. "Good morning, kid." replied the eldest of the two. He leaned forward and hugged his younger brother briefly, before getting to his feet and walking to the closet to get their uniforms, trying desperately to disguise his limp.

However, tricking Ludwig was a lot harder than tricking other children. He noticed. "Does it hurt?" he asked.

Gilbert faked a confident smirk, laying Ludwig's uniform on the end on his bed. "Nothing the awesome me can't handle!" he lied. "Now hurry up and get dressed."

The boys walked to school hand in hand, as usual. Gilbert walked Ludwig right up to the classroom door before turning to get to his own class on the other side of the school. He managed to get through the door just as his name was being called.

The teacher gave him a soft smile. "Impeccable timing." she said. "I was just about to mark you as absent."

Gilbert apologised and took his usual seat by the door. He didn't really like his teather. Miss Griffiths, her name was. She was nice, but she meddled a bit too much.

Once the register had been taken and Miss Griffiths had gone over the work for the day, she pulled Gilbert aside.

"I know we've had this chat a number of times," she started. "But I've spoken with Miss Kelly who teaches Year 3, and she has noticed similar marks on your brother to the ones on you." She frowned, putting a hand on Gilbert's shoulder, which he instinctively flinched away from. Miss Griffiths sighed. "Gilbert, I want you to know that you can trust me. If there are issues at home, please talk to me about them." she pressed.

Gilbert shrugged. "We're brothers. We get a little too rough with each other sometimes." He was lying through his teeth again, and Miss Griffiths knew he was, but there wasn't anything she could do.

Meanwhile, in the Year 3 class, Ludwig was getting the same treatment from Miss Kelly.

"You aren't in trouble Ludwig." she soothed. "I only want to know how you got those bruises."

Ludwig glanced down at his arm, where aforementioned bruises resided. "Playing." he mumbled.

Miss Kelly tutted. "You told me that last time. And I told you to play a little more gently, remember?" she said.

Ludwig nodded.

"Well, why didn't you?"

With a shrug, Ludwig's gaze shifted to the floor.

Miss Kelly gave a soft sigh. "You know you can trust me, don't you?" she asked.

Ludwig nodded again.

"So you'll tell me if there's something bothering you?" Her tone became a little sterner. She held out her little finger. "Pinky promise?"

Hooking his little finger through his teacher's, Ludwig nodded.

The end of the school day is something neither Gilbert nor Ludwig really looked forward too. While everyone else rushed home, the two took their sweet time.

Luckily, on this particular day, their parents were both already so high that they didn't even notice the two boys coming in through the door or sneaking up to their bedroom, which promised a quiet afternoon. At least for now.

They spent a few hours playing together quietly in their bedroom, trying not to attract their parents attention. This was a perfect example of the calm before the storm, and Gilbert knew all too well what was to come.

The tell tale sign of drunken stumbling up the carpeted stairs was his first and only warning.

"Ludwig," He grabbed hold of his brother's wrist. "Go and hide in the closet and don't come out until I say so, okay?" He gave him a push in the direction of the closet.

Ludwig looked back over his shoulder as Gilbert stared to count, as if playing hide and seek. But Ludwig knew exactly what he was doing. Reluctantly, he climbed into the closet and shut the door.

At first, he couldn't hear much, just his father and Gilbert talking. He couldn't make out what they were saying, but he could hear their voices. Then the voices got louder.

It wouldn't be long now. This had become almost like a routine.

Right on cue, Ludwig heard an echoing slap, that was probably their father's hand across Gilbert's face.

Everything was silent for a while after that. Ludwig pressed his ear against the door, wondering if his father had left. He just about heard Gilbert utter something before a louder slap was heard. He flinched away from the door, pressing himself as close to the back of the closet as he could.

As the slaps got even louder, so did Gilbert's cries. Ludwig had his hands over his ears to block out the sounds, but it did nothing to help.

Ludwig _hated_ hearing this. He hated knowing that Gilbert wouldn't get it so bad if he was out there. But then Gilbert would get mad and yell at him like he did before. He couldn't help but whimper and sob quietly to himself.

Minutes passed by, but it felt like hours. Hours and hours of listening to his brother crying, pleading for their father to stop. Finally, he heard heavy footsteps stomping out of the room and the door slamming shut. Still, he stayed in the closet.

After a few more minutes, Gilbert's sobs faded into nothing and Ludwig heard him pick himself up and slowly shuffle over to the closet. The door was pulled open to reveal Gilbert's worried face. His eyes were red and swollen from crying and he had a nasty hand print on his cheek. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Ludwig frowned, crawling out of the confined space. "I should be asking you that."

Gilbert smirked as best he could. "I told you, it's nothing the awesome me can't handle!" Even as he was saying it, he was wincing at the dull ache all over his body. "Come on, we have a game to get back to." he said, grabbing hold of his brother's hand.

* * *

**End Note: *is crying* Gilbert finally grew a pair and told Ludwig about their past. I cried while writing it, and I couldn't even bring myself to write it properly. I am such a baby!  
****Translations:  
****Mladshaya sestra - Little sister.  
****Glupaya devochka - Silly girl.  
****Khoroshaya devochka - Good girl.  
****As always, feel free to correct me.  
****The song for this chapter is Servant of Evil by Len Kagamine (which I listened to on repeat while writing most of this).  
****~Lolly xXx**


	22. As The World Falls Down

For once, Roderich wasn't in the music room. Which both relieved and concerned Matthew. Still, he was glad to be alone.

He sat himself behind the piano, slowly brushing his fingers against the keys. He'd played a little when he was younger, but that was a very long time ago. He briefly wondered if he was still any good.

Doing a quick people-check outside the door, Matthew sat back at the piano and hit a few keys.

The piano was well tuned. Roderich always made sure it was in tip top condition. Smiling to himself, Matthew played a few more gentle notes before bring his left hand up and playing properly.

He smiled warmly, his eyes slipping closed as he allowed his hands to do as they pleased.

"I didn't know you could play."

Matthew shot up, backing away from the piano. "R-Roderich!" He paled, embarrassed that Roderich of all people had caught him playing. "I-I'm sorry, I d-didn't know a-anyone was listening."

Roderich chuckled lightly. "Don't worry, Matthew. It's fine." he said. He walked past the Canadian, sitting at the piano. "How long have you been playing?" he asked.

"I used to play when I was little. That was the first time I'd touched a piano in years." replied Matthew.

"Really?" Roderich looked up it him with an arched eyebrow. "That's impressive, Matthew. Does your brother play, too?"

Matthew chuckled. "He thinks he can. All he can play is the Angry Birds theme." He shook his head, remembering Alfred's constant boasting the day he'd learned to play that stupid song.

With a small laugh of his own, Roderich played the short tune. "Even little Lili Zwingli can play that." he said.

A few moments of silence passed between the two before Roderich spoke again.

"You seem to be in a better mood than usual today."

Matthew sighed, staring down at his socks. "Yeah, I guess I've been a little irritable lately." he admitted.

"You know I'm here if you need someone to talk to, right?" asked the Austrian.

Confused, Matthew stared at Roderich with a raised eyebrow. "Since when do you care about me?" he asked, rather bluntly.

To this, Roderich just gave a small smile and, just as bluntly, he replied; "Care kids look out for each other."

* * *

Feliciano had told Antonio that Lovino had a tendency to be clingy. Hell, it was even written in Lovino's clinical assessment. But Antonio wasn't expecting Lovino to be quite _this_ clingy.

Antonio was very rarely seen without the elder Vargas.

He wouldn't talk to, or even look at anyone else, with the exception of Feliciano. He'd stand very closely behind Antonio was just... _be there_.

Elizabeta had tried talking to him, but had only gotten a few incoherent mumbles as a response.

"Isn't Lovino starting to worry you?" asked Ludwig. Lovino was currently talking to Feliciano, who was speaking very animatedly, while Lovino seemed almost apathetic in his responses, staring at his hands the entire time.

Antonio frowned deeply. "_Si_." he replied, glancing over at the twins. "I thought he was starting to get better but... he's just gone completely the other way." He sighed, rubbing his face. "Did..." he started, thinking over his next words very carefully. He didn't want to get Gilbert in trouble, after all. "Did you know that Gilbert had access to the filing cabinet in Jenny's office before he started his training?"

Ludwig raised an eyebrow. "I do now." he said.

With another sigh, Antonio shook his head. "We used to read everyone's files." he admitted. "But we stopped after reading theirs. The twins'." He cast another brief glance over to Lovino to make sure he wasn't listening. "Lovino and Feliciano both have varying mental illnesses. Lovino's is worse than Feliciano's, as you can probably tell. We read the file when they first got here, but there's one specific thing that still bothers me even now."

"And what's that?"

"Lovino said that he'd thought about how he was going to kill himself."

Ludwig opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by the very person the were discussing.

"I know you're talking about me, bastards." Lovino snapped, not even looking up.

Antonio sighed for what felt like the thousandth time that day. He moved over to the couch were the brothers were sitting and placed himself on the other side of Lovino. "We're just worried about you, Lovi." he said, putting an arm around his friend.

"Well don't!" spat the eldest Italian. "I'm fine, so just fucking leave it, okay?"

Without saying anything else, Antonio just pulled him closer. 'I'll never be able to stop worrying about you.' he thought.

* * *

"So you're actually going to her house?" asked Arthur, looking up from his homework.

Francis nodded. "_Oui_, this Thursday." he answered. "I'm not looking forward to it."

Arthur gave him an odd look. "Then why are you going?"

"For Monique." Francis said, plainly. "And anyway, I'll have to face Claudette sooner or later." he sighed heavily. "Arthur. If it was your mother, would you forgive her?" he asked.

Biting his lip, Arthur turned back to his work. "It's no good asking me." he replied. "My mother was a useless heroin addict. I will never forgive her for what me and Peter had to see growing up." he bit, vehemently.

Francis frowned. "_Désolé_."

"_Ne __soyez__ pas_." The Brit smiled, making Francis smile back at the use of French. "Give Claudette a chance, Francis."

Francis blinked, not expecting such a thing to come from Arthur.

There are two sorts of people in care. There are the ones in group A who think that their lives would be so much better if they had parents. They normally ended up in care due to their parents death. Then there was group B, who believed that their parents were the reason their lived were so awful.

Arthur fell into group B.

If his mother was ever brought up, he wasted no time in making sure people know how useless she was and how much he loathed the woman. Oddly enough, if anyone asked about his father, he'd simply shrug.

Not bothering to question it, Francis nodded. "We'll see."

* * *

**End Note: Shet bro! 2 chapters in 1 night? Who's awesome? I'M AWESOME! BD Who liked the scene with Mattie and Roddy? I wanted to try writing two characters we don't often see communicating. Also, Lovi might be a little out of character for a while. Sorry!  
****MOST OF THIS CHAPTER IS DIALOGUE! WHAT THE METAPHORICAL FrUK?!  
****Translations:  
****Désolé – Sorry.  
****Ne soyez pas - Don't be.  
****The song for this chapter is As The World Falls Down by David Bowie.  
****~Lolly xXx**


	23. Your Star

Matthew groaned as he pulled himself up, glancing over at the clock.

10:46. He'd missed breakfast. _Lovely_.

Sighing, he begrudgingly rolled out of bed. He didn't want to get up, but he had skipped supper last night and he was stupidly hungry.

Without bothering to change out of his pyjamas, he made his way to the kitchen. He grabbed the porridge oats out of the cupboard, the milk from the fridge and a saucepan.

While the porridge was cooking, Matthew dug through the crockery cupboard for his favourite bowl. He gave up after a while and settled for a plain, white one, only to find his bowl in the sink. Covered in Weetabix. Once again; _Lovely_.

Deciding to let it go, Matthew just got on with making his porridge.

When it was finally done, he sat at the table and-

"Jesus Mattie! You want some porridge with that syrup?"

-got rudely interrupted by his brother.

Matthew sighed. "Please, Al. Leave me alone, I'm _really_ not in the mood." he grumbled.

Alfred sat opposite his brother, giving a quiet sigh of his own. "You've been real pissy lately, you know that?"

Matthew let his spoon drop into his bowl, running a hand through his unbrushed hair.

The two were silent for a while, Matthew eating his breakfast and Alfred playing 'Jimmy' with his fingers.

"I got a letter from Stephan." said Matthew, finishing off his breakfast.

That caught Alfred's attention instantly. "What?" he growled.

Matthew nodded. "I got a letter from Stephan," he repeated. "And I wrote back."

"Saying what?"

"To leave us alone. A little less than politely."

Alfred smiled faintly. "Good."

* * *

Peter knew very little about his family.

He knew that the woman that gave birth to him wasn't fit to be called a mother and he knew that he had four more brothers that he had never met and that was about it. That was all Arthur told him.

Despite being told that his family wasn't worth it, Peter really wanted to know them.

When it came to group A and group B, Peter was the exception. He was in neither group A nor B. Arthur made sure he knew that it was his mother's fault that he was in care, but he still desperately wished for a proper family.

Of course, being as sweet as he was, he had been fostered a number of times, but never adopted. Well, everyone at Apple Tree House had been fostered at least once, but adoptions were rare at any care home. Still, Peter did wonder what it would have been like if any of his foster parents had adopted him.

The first couple to foster him and Arthur were so lovely. Peter had only been four at the time, but he still remembered them.

What would it have been like if they had adopted him?

Maybe Arthur would spend more time with him and they'd be like a real family, going on day trips and holidays, attending a real school and having his his parents drop him off in the morning and pick him up when school finished.

But then, he wouldn't be best friends with Lili. He wouldn't know Elizabeta or Alfred or anyone. Would he even make friends in a normal school?

Eventually, Peter decided he was content with his life just the way it was.

Still.

He'd very much like to meet his other brothers.

* * *

"W-Where are you going?" Lovino's arm shot out to grab hold of Antonio's t-shirt.

Antonio sighed, trying to untangle his t-shirt from Lovino's fingers. "I'm just going to the bathroom, Lovi." he said, finally managing to free himself. "I'll be right back."

Lovino frowned as he watched Antonio walking away. More at himself than anything else.

Antonio must be so fed up of him.

All he ever did lately was cling to the Spaniard. Who _wouldn't_ be getting a little sick of him by now?

Biting his lip, Lovino pulled his knees up to his chest and folded his arms over them, leaning his chin on his forearm.

He wasn't going to cry.

He shook his head, unable to stop the tears prickling in the corners of his eyes.

No, no, no! He most certainly was _not_ going to cry! What good would that do?

Still, the tears came, slipping silently over his cheeks.

He buried his face in his arms, desperately trying to stop himself from sobbing.

"Lovino?"

He didn't even look up.

He didn't even react when he felt the weight shift next to him on the sofa. Or when a pair of arms wrapped themselves around him.

"Lovino, look at me."

Reluctantly, Lovino peeked out over his arms, looking Antonio in the eye.

Antonio frowned deeply, wiping away a few of Lovino's tears. "What's the matter, Lovi?" he asked.

Lovino shook his head.

"Don't lie." Antonio sighed, pulling Lovino closer to himself. "_Please_ don't lie to me, Lovino. I know there's something wrong otherwise you wouldn't be crying."

Lovino muttered something inaudible, reburying his face.

"Pardon?" asked Antonio, leaning even closer to the Italian.

"I-I'm sorry."

Antonio stared at Lovino in shock. "What on earth for?"

Lovino looked up and shook his head again, sobbing and hiccuping quietly. "I d-don't mean to be so... so _needy_ all the time. I really don't, I-I just... I don't know...I-I-" he was silenced by Antonio's finger pressing against his lips.

"Be quiet, Lovi." he said, soothingly. "I understand. I don't think you're needy at all. Stop crying."

Lovino hiccuped again, leaning his head on Antonio's shoulder. "I'm still sorry." he mumbled.

* * *

Elizabeta was on her way to bed when she heard voices speaking in hushed tones. Actually, one voice. And she knew exactly who it belonged to.

She pushed open the door to the classroom, unsurprised when she found Feliciano inside, kneeling on a chair and talking, seemingly to the window pane.

"What in the heavens are you doing?" she asked.

Feliciano turned to her and smiled. "Saying goodnight to mama and papa." he replied. "My real mama and papa." He turned back to the window, smiling up at the night sky. "When Lovi and I were younger, Nonno told us that our parents were stars now. I know it's a little silly, but I like to tell them about my day before I go to bed." he explained.

Elizabeta grabbed a chair for herself and set it down next to Feliciano's, kneeling to look out of the window too. "It's not silly at all." she said. She glanced up. "So, which stars are your parents?"

"See the two that are really close together?" Feliciano pointed upwards. Elizabeta nodded. "The one on the left is papa and the one on the right is mama." continued Feliciano.

He lay his head on the window sill, staring up at the two stars. Remembering.

Isn't it strange how nostalgia works?

Sometimes, it can make you happy, reliving certain events in your life that made you laugh until you cried, or made your heart swell with love.

Sometimes, it filled you with regret. Made you desperately wish that you had done things differently.

But right now, for Feliciano, it just made him sad. It reminded him that he was never going to see his parents again. It made him think of all the special, family moments that he had missed out on. It made him cry.

He buried his head in his folded arms, sniffling quietly.

"Oh, baby." Elizabeta cooed, gently rubbing his back. She moved him so his head was on her shoulder and she was holding him protectively.

Feliciano wrapped his arms around her, clutching the back of her nightie. "Do you miss your parents, mama?" he asked.

Elizabeta tensed. "No, Feliciano." she admitted, quietly. "I don't."

* * *

**End Note: Why am I so cruel to my poor little Mano? It's not even as if I don't like him, I love him to bits! I ranted at my friend for saying something bad about him and she just looked at me and said "Romano can do no wrong in your eyes, can he?" and I was like "No! He's my baby!"  
****So, I was looking at the stats for this story and oh, my actual-factual _GOD_! There are people reading this from countries I've never even heard of (and I'm a Hetalia fan, so that's really saying something!)! So this is just an enormous _THANK YOU_ to each and every one of you! I'm so in love with you guys!  
****The song for this chapter is Your Star by Evanescence.  
****~Lolly xXx**


	24. Canadian Please

Since learning to speak, Feliciano had found tutoring much easier. He was able to answer questions verbally and not worry about keeping everyone waiting. Although he did seem to get rebuked for talking a lot.

Today was Friday, which meant English. And specifically; Creative Writing.

Feliciano was pretty good at the creative part, but he wasn't so great at putting his ideas into coherent sentences. Ludwig was the exact opposite. He was able to write amazingly well, but his story ideas were less than impressive.

Surprisingly, the two made a pretty good team. When it came to Creative Writing, that is.

As soon as Feliciano saw 'Creative Writing' written on the board he asked Mr. von Bock if he and Ludwig could work together again.

"Of course you can," replied the teacher. "Just try being a little quieter."

For a while, their writing was going pretty well, but Feliciano had a tendency to get a little excited and ramble on. Ludwig had told him to calm down God knows how many times.

After about the fourth time this happened, Feliciano's attention was drawn by a quiet giggle behind him.

"I'm sorry." Lili covered her mouth with her hand. "It's just, you never seem to stop for breath or anything." she tittered, earning a quick, quiet "Don't be rude." from Vash.

Feliciano giggled back. "I don't talk that fast, do I?" he asked.

"Yes, Feliciano. You really do." Ludwig chuckled, lowly.

"It's kind of amazing, though." Alfred chipped in, tilting his chair and his head back to face the conversation behind him. "You've gone from not being able to talk at all to speaking at thirty words per second."

Feliciano smiled. Maybe being a bit of a chatterbox wasn't really a good thing, but he couldn't help but the the tinniest bit proud of himself.

* * *

Despite being reminded at least three times that Francis was still not ready to forgive her, Claudette allowed the contact to be held in her home. The contact hours had been moved to Fridays at 3:30 pm, when Monique got home from school.

Yesterday, Monique had been upset that she couldn't see Francis, but had perked up when Claudette promised that she'd see him today.

All through school she'd been excited, blabbering non-stop about her amazing big brother and how she couldn't wait to see him. She'd been staring at the clock pretty much all day.

3:26.

Hurry up 3:30!

Meanwhile, Francis was arriving at the house that he'd lived in ten years ago. He found it odd that Claudette still lived there.

Claudette was just exiting the front door as Francis climbed out of Yekaterina's car.

"Oh, hello." Claudette smiled, brushing her hair out of her face.

Francis acknowledged her with a slight nod of his head.

"I'm on my way to pick Monique up from school." said Claudette, shifting awkwardly. "Would you... like to come with me?"

Giving it a few moment's thought, Francis nodded.

Back with Monique, the young girl was becoming impatient.

3:29.

Why wasn't time going faster?

The seconds ticked by, seemingly lasting forever, and eventually, the bell rang, signalling the end of school.

The teacher put down the book she had been reading from, popping in a bookmark. "We'll continue on Monday." she announced.

The class left to collect their coats, then out into the playground to wait for their parents.

Monique spotted Francis instantly. She ran across the playground, jumping into her brother's arms.

"_Bonjour_, Monique." Francis chuckled, shifting the little girl onto his hip.

Monique wrapped her arms tighter around her big brother. "I missed you." she whined, cutely.

A quiet giggle sounded behind them.

"Is that the big brother you've been telling me about, Monnie?"

Monique looked up with a smile. "_Oui_." she replied to the new person.

Francis turned to see the girl behind him. She had long dark brown hair, tied in twin tails and wore a uniform similar to Monique's but with Y6 written on the cardigan.

"Francis, this is my friend, Shelly." Monique introduced them.

'Shelly' giggled again. "It's Michelle, actually. Monnie just calls me Shelly." she explained.

"Shelly is Monique's baby sitter." said Claudette.

Monique frowned. "No, she's my friend!" she corrected. "Aren't you, Shelly?"

With yet another giggle, Michelle tousled Monique's hair. "Of course I am, hon-." A loud horn blaring cut her off. She sighed. "Sorry, that's my mother, I have to go. But it was really nice finally meeting you, Francis." she called behind her and she turned and skipped off.

"You too." Francis called after her.

Claudette waved the girl off, a smile still on her face. "So," she said, turning to her children. "Let's go home, shall we?"

* * *

Although they'd long since grown out of doing things in sync and communicating in a secret 'twin-language', Alfred and Matthew were still able to tell what the other was thinking. And right now, Matthew could tell Alfred was thinking about the letter.

"Al, let it go." he muttered.

Alfred looked up from his DS with furrowed eyebrows. "Let what go?"

With a roll of his eyes, Matthew tipped himself back, lying on his bed. "I know you're still thinking about what I wrote to Stephan, therefore I repeat; let it go." he replied.

"I wasn't-"

"Alfred, _please_." Matthew interjected. "I've been able to read your mind since we were two years old."

Alfred sighed. Honestly, he hadn't stopped thinking about it since Matthew had told him about it. He couldn't help but wonder exactly what he had said. Stephan had stopped sending letters to them both since, so he must have been much harsher than Alfred had. Or maybe it was because it was coming from Matthew. Shy, quiet Matthew, who wouldn't say 'boo' to a bedstead.

"I just want to know what you said to him."

Matthew made a small sound of frustration. "_That's_ what's been bothering you?" he asked. "Jesus, Alfred. If that was all, you should have just asked me what I said."

Alfred flinched a little at his brother's tone. "What _did_ you say?"

"Um," Matthew bit his lip, trying to recall his exact words. "Just that neither of us want anything to do with him, we hate him, he's no father of ours, and he should give up trying to get us to acknowledge him." he said. "Oh, and I might have told him to burn in hell. In French."

Alfred was quiet for a few moments before chuckling quietly. Then louder. And louder still.

"What? What's funny?"

"See?" Alfred panted out between bouts of laughter. "You can be a badass if you try!"

* * *

**End Note: Random Seychelles, anyone? Yeah, Michelle was supposed to be Seychelles. I don't know, I think I'm getting over my dislike of her. Slowly. I'm actually contemplating doing something with her. Not sure though.  
****Also, I got myself some epic Hetalia MMD models, so I might do a cover for this story with them.  
****The song for this chapter is Canadian Please by Julia and Andrew (mainly for comedic reasons).  
****~Lolly xXx**


	25. Brother, My Brother

"You know," Peter suddenly spoke, drawing the attention of everyone around the table, sans Lovino, who seemed perfectly content just staring at his breakfast. "Alfred and Matthew do typical twin things like finishing each other's sentences and crying when the other gets hurt-"

"We haven't done that in years!" protested the Williams twins, in unison, proving Peter's point.

Giving a smug smirk, the nine year old continued. "But Lovino and Feliciano don't do anything like that."

Lovino's head shot up.

Peter was right. He and Feliciano hadn't had any twin moments in years.

Of course, they used to. When they were younger they seemed to genuinely believe that they could feel each other's pain, they would swap pyjamas to try and trick their parents (not realising that their parents could easily tell them apart), and they even seemed to have whole conversations without saying a word.

Everything changed when they were put into care.

"Breathe, Lovino."

The combination of Antonio's voice and his hand gently patting his back brought Lovino out of his thoughts. He glanced around the table to find everyone's attention on him.

"What's the matter, dear?" asked Elizabeta, moving from her seat to gently place her hands on Lovino's shoulders.

Without a word, Lovino got up, took his unfinished breakfast over to the side counter and turned to leave.

"Ve... _Fratello_." Feliciano was peering over the back of his chair. "Is everything okay?"

Lovino looked back over his shoulder. "Yeah, fine." he mumbled and walked off.

The room was quiet for a long time, everyone wordlessly returning to their breakfast.

Antonio was the first to finish, putting his bowl in the sink and going off to find Lovino.

"Why haven't you gone, Feliciano?"

"Shut up, Peter!" Arthur chided.

Feliciano shook his head with a sad smile. "I'm not _fratello's_ favourite person anymore." he said. He got up and left, leaving his bowl on the table.

Arthur glared at his younger brother. "Well done, idiot." he hissed.

* * *

"Lovino, open the door." Antonio was stood outside his own bedroom, knocking the door.

Lovino had sat himself behind the door with Antonio's quilt over him and showed no signs of moving anytime soon.

Peter was right. He and Feliciano weren't even like real twins anymore. They hadn't been spending any time together at all since Feli had learned to speak, and Feliciano had even stopped climbing into bed with him.

The knocking on the door continued and Lovino decided that Antonio was going to go away. This was his bedroom after all.

Begrudgingly, he got to his feet and opened the door, pulling the quilt around his shoulders.

Antonio smiled at him, wrapping his arms around the smaller boy. "Are you going to tell me what's wrong, Lovi?" he asked.

Lovino nodded, leaning into his friend's arms. He allowed himself to be guided over to Antonio's bed, where he and the Spaniard cuddled together and Lovino was free to pour his heart out to him yet again.

Throughout the entire monologue of whimpers and sobs, Antonio listened intently not saying a single word.

"You can be so silly sometimes." he whispered, when Lovino had finally stopped crying. "How many times do I have to tell you? Feliciano will always love you and you'll always be the most important person in the whole world to him."

Lovino rubbed his blotchy face. "N-no I won't." he muttered.

"Lovino." Antonio sighed. "I want you to go and find Feliciano and try actually talking to him."

* * *

Deciding to take Antonio's advice, Lovino eventually found his brother in their room, lying face down on his bed.

"Feli?"

The youngest Vargas looked over his shoulder, smiling when he saw his brother in the doorway. "_Ciao_, Lovino." he said.

Lovino walked into the room and climbed onto his brother's bed, lying down beside him.

Feliciano didn't say a word, he just moved over, giving Lovino more room.

Everything about this was backwards. Normally, it was Feliciano who wanted to cuddle up to Lovino (not that Lovino didn't like it. He did, but he was too stubborn to admit it.).

"Y-You know I love you... don't you?" asked Lovino, wrapping his arms around Feliciano's shoulders.

Feliciano returned his embrace. "_Si_." he replied.

"Do you..." Lovino bit his lip. "Do you love me, too?"

Feliciano felt a little hurt. He pushed Lovino off and gave him a serious look. "I can't believe you seriously need to ask that." He roughly pulled him back hugging him as tightly as he could. "Of course I love you _fratello_."

Lovino nodded, tightening his own hug.

* * *

**End Note: Extremely short chapter, but I'm hoping the fact that it's Lovino-centric makes up for that. I've not had access to my usual laptop, so my big sister kindly let me use hers to update. And as grateful as I am (**_**VERY**_**), I really wish she had LibreOffice.  
****Oh, also. Did I tell you guys that I'm the admin of ask-mmd-lovi over on Tumblr? I seem to get a LOT of Itacest questions, which is annoying me because I really do not like Itacest, or any "cest" pairings.  
****The song for this chapter is Brother, My Brother by Blessid Union of Souls.  
****~Lolly xXx**


	26. Family Reunion

Ring... Ring... Ring...

Yekaterina rushed into the office, quickly picking up the phone before the person on the other end hung up. "Hello, Apple Tree House. Yekaterina Braginski speaking."

The person on the phone was quiet for a while, nervously clearing his throat. "_Prynhwn dda_." he said. "I was wondering if I could possibly speak to Arthur Kirkland?" His accent was unfamiliar to Yekaterina (which was quite something when you work at Apple Tree House), but it was friendly.

"Um. One moment." she rested the phone on it's side and called Jenny in from the other room. The head carer appeared in the doorway, picking up the phone without even needing to be told.

"Hello?"

"_Shwmae_, m-may I please speak to Arthur Kirkland?"

"May I ask who's calling?"

The man on the phone was quiet for a while, Jenny couldn't even hear him breathe. "Dafydd," he said, eventually. "Dafydd Kirkland. I'm his brother."

Jenny frowned. "I'm not sure if he'd want to—"

"I know!" Dafydd interrupted. "But please... can you try?"

With a sigh, Jenny handed the phone back to Yekaterina, who held the receiver until the other worker could return.

Almost ten minutes later, she returned with an extremely confused looking Arthur.

Yekaterina smiled, handing the phone to the teen.

Arthur thanked her, lifting the receiver to his ear. "Hello?"

"Arthur." Dafydd sounded really pleased. "It's Dai. You remember me, don't you?"

"Yes." replied Arthur.

"Listen, I know none of us have really bothered with you for a few years but... well, I want to come and visit you. And Peter, of course."

Arthur just hummed in response.

"I've got a bit of bad news and me and the boys thought we should tell you in person." continued Dafydd. "So, can we come?"

With another quiet hum, Arthur considered it. He couldn't say that he had exactly missed his elder brothers, still, Peter had been asking about their family lately.

After a few moments of careful consideration, he finally agreed to allow his brothers to visit.

"_B-Bendigedeg_!" Arthur could hear the smile in Dafydd's voice.

They negotiated a date and time for the visit and said their goodbyes.

Arthur hung up and returned to his bedroom. Luckily, Peter was playing outside with Lili and Natalya so he had a while to himself to think about this interesting turn of events.

How did he feel about this? Was he glad? Worried? And what about the bad news they had?

He finally concluded that he had no idea how to feel about this.

* * *

"A" Lili passed the ball to Natalya.

"B" Natalya then passed it to Ivan.

"C" Ivan passed it to Peter.

"D" Peter passed it to Vash.

"E" Vash passed it back to Lili.

"Fireball!" The cycle began again, with the ball being passed around faster, gaining more speed as it went.

It made six complete loops before it was dropped by Peter, who quickly ran after the escaping ball before returning to the group and starting the game again.

The game they were playing was called Fireball. The rules were, pass a ball around as fast as possible for as long as possible without dropping it. It was a game Ivan and Vash had grown out of quite a while ago.

Exactly how Lili and Natalya had managed to coerce their brothers into playing would remain a mystery, but they were both really glad that they had.

"How about we stop this game now, Natalya? I have homework to finish." said Ivan, laying his hand atop his sister's head.

Natalya whined quietly, grabbing hold of Ivan's sleeve.

Ivan sighed. "I'm sorry, Natalya." He untangled his fingers from her hair. "Why don't you just play with the others, I'm sure you won't miss me."

"Will!" protested Natalya.

"I'll be back out to play once I'm done, I promise." With that, Ivan turned away and disappeared back into the house, waving over his shoulder.

"You don't have to go too, do you, Vash?" asked Lili, taking hold of Natalya's hand.

Vash shook his head. "No. I can play with you for a little while longer."

Lili smiled.

"Why don't we play a different game now?" offered Peter, grabbing onto Natalya's other hand.

Natalya looked up, nodding slowly.

* * *

"What's up with Artie?" asked Alfred, helping himself to another biscuit.

Elizabeta shrugged, putting the newly cleaned plates back into the cupboard. "He was alright before he was called into the office." she replied.

Alfred reached into the biscuit packet again, frowning when he found it empty.

"He's probably just having a mood. He does that from time to time." Francis chipped in as he swept the tiled floor.

Elizabeta had never seen Francis actually doing his chores before. He usually just passed them onto somebody else. Usually poor Feliciano. "Well, he never complains." he'd say.

"I don't know," Alfred pulled himself up to sit on the counter top and jumped strait back down when he saw the look Elizabeta was giving him. "He seems genuinely upset about something... Maybe his mom called or-."

"I doubt that." Francis interrupted.

Elizabeta hummed in agreement. "His mood would be a black as the ace of spades if that happened. Not to mention the whole hell-freezing-over thing that would have to take place beforehand." she said, closing the cupboard door.

Alfred sighed. "Yeah, I guess." he leaned over the counter, playing with the empty biscuit packet. "I'm hungry." he groaned.

"You just ate all those biscuits." Elizabeta pointed out, plucking the empty packet from his hand and throwing it into the bin.

"I know, I want something else now." Alfred pushed himself away from the counter and left the room.

Elizabeta could only chuckle to herself.

"Hey, Eliza." Francis called. He stopped sweeping, leaning the broom against the wall. "Do you think Arthur's right to not forgive his mother?"

With a frown, Elizabeta sat herself at the table. "I know you aren't really asking about Arthur." she said, flatly.

Francis gave a weak chuckle, joining her.

"Francis," The Hungarian lay her hands flat on the table. "Are you really still debating with yourself?"

He didn't respond.

Elizabeta reached across the table, laying her hand atop Francis'. "You want to know what I think you should do?" She paused, waiting for him to speak at all. He didn't, so she carried on. "I think you should sit down with her, without having your sister around, and have a serious conversation about this."

Francis sighed. "_Oui_, I suppose you're right." he replied. "Thanks, Eliza."

"Anytime."

* * *

**End Note: I really shouldn't be telling you this, but once the Kirkland brothers have had their bit, I have another majorly important character dropping into this fic. And I'm not telling you who~ HoNk! (No, it's not Gamzee Makara, before anyone asks)  
****Also, Fireball is an actual game I used to play in Primary school.  
****Translation time:  
****Prynhwn dda: Good afternoon.  
****Shwmae: Hello.  
Bendigedeg: Wonderful.  
****By the way, Dafydd is Wales and "Dai" is a nickname.  
****The song for this chapter is Family Reunion by George Benson. (Which I've never heard, but my friend suggested I use it for this chapter)  
****~Lolly xXx**


	27. Baby Mine

"Morning everyone." Elizabeta called, walking into the kitchen.

She got a few grumbled replies from the lethargic residents of Apple Tree House.

A sigh was heard from Yekaterina, who was busy preparing breakfast for Peter, Lili and Natalya. "How are you so pretty, Eliza?" she asked.

Elizabeta stopped in her tracks. Right now she was still in her baggy pyjama top and her cotton sleep shorts. She had her unbrushed hair pulled into a messy bun on the top of her head and black marks around her eyes where she had failed to properly wash off yesterday's mascara. At the moment she was a bit of a mess, as most people are first thing in the morning. "What do you mean 'pretty'?" she asked.

"Well, you are." Yekaterina replied. "You're just effortlessly beautiful. Look at you. You've just got up and you look lovely." She gave another short sigh, setting a plate of toast down in front of her sister and returning to the counter to get Lili's cereal.

"Si," Feliciano giggled, jumping up from his seat and dragging Elizabeta to sit with him. "Mama's the prettiest!"

The Hungarian allowed herself to be pulled into place by her self-appointed 'son', blushing furiously.

Breakfast was a little quite for a while after that. A few residents finished and dispersed as quickly as possible, obviously wanting to hurry off to do nothing until tutoring began.

Eventually, the others left too, leaving only Elizabeta and Roderich.

Elizabeta still had a faint dusting of pink over her cheeks as Yekaterina's words replayed in her head. She'd never thought of herself as pretty before. She'll admit that every now and again she'd catch glimpse of herself as she passed a mirror and like what she saw, but pretty? "Roderich," She caught the Austrian's attention with the slight wave of her hand. "Do you think I'm pretty?" she asked.

Roderich glanced up, then straight back down into his teacup, a blush forming on his own face. He cleared his throat. "Ja, I do." he replied, quietly. "I think you're beautiful."

* * *

With a quiet sigh, Michelle ungracefully tumbled out of bed, stretching her limbs.

Today was Sunday, which meant no school. Huzzah! She did, however, have a bag full of unfinished homework that was due in tomorrow.

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Michelle turned on her CD player—nothing quite like a bit of Jason Mraz in the morning—and pulled her notebook and pencil case out of her school bag, deciding to tackle her English homework first.

Once she'd finished writing her opinion on W.W. Jacobs' 'The Monkey's Paw', she shut her notebook and fished out her maths book. But before she had a chance to properly settle down and tackle the sums, her bedroom door flew open.

Her mother was leaning against the door frame with what appeared to be—and what Michelle hoped was—a cigarette in her hand. "Mrs. Bonnefoy wants you to watch the kid while she's out today." she said.

Michelle smiled. "Oh, okay. Tell her I'll be happy to." she replied, turning back to her work.

"Already did. Be over there by twelve, she's meeting her son for lunch or something." With that, she walked away, leaving Michelle's bedroom door open.

With a sigh, Michelle got up and closed it again. She checked her clock. 10:30. She had an hour and a half to finish her homework and get ready.

"Right," she muttered, falling back into her desk chair. "Maths."

* * *

Today was very important for Gilbert.

Today was the second part of his exam. This was the exam that would determine whether or not he would be able to become a full time care worker at Apple Tree House.

He was pretty confident. He'd received plenty of praise from the couple that ran Saint Julia's, Jenny and Yekaterina always told him that he was surprisingly capable and he got top marks on his last exam.

Still, he couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

"You ready?" asked Yekaterina, grabbing her keys from her desk.

Gilbert sighed. "As I'll ever be." he replied.

They both walked out to the car, passing a chorus of 'good luck' on the way out.

Neither spoke until they were about halfway there.

"It's really not that bad." said Yekaterina. "I found it a lot easier than the first exam. You should whiz through it, provided you've done all your coursework."

Gilbert looked down at the five thick folders of coursework on his lap. It was all completed and triple checked. Even Ludwig gave it a quick once-over to make sure there were no mistakes.

He was sure it would be fine.

However, when they pulled up in front of the community centre, where the exam was being held, Gilbert started to feel a little sick.

His entire future rested on this one exam.

Okay, now he _really_ felt sick.

Yekaterina frowned. She knew how he felt. "Hey," she said, catching his attention. She wrapped her arms around him in a comforting hug. "Trust me, everyone feels this way before an exam." She pulled back, leaving her hands on his shoulders. "If I passed this, you can do it ten times better." she said.

Gilbert took a deep breath, putting on his usual smirk. "Thanks, Katy." he replied, getting out of the car and jogging into the building.

Yekaterina watched him up the steps. The exam took an hour, which left her with time to kill. Might as well spend it driving around aimlessly.

* * *

After reassuring Jenny for the ninth time that he'd be fine walking into town by himself, Francis called a last goodbye into the hall and closed the door.

He made his way to the small café that he, Gilbert and Antonio used to go to back when they used to sneak out.

Claudette was already there, sipping coffee and fiddling nervously with the buckles on her coat.

"_Bonjour_, Claudette." Francis greeted as he slid himself into the seat opposite his mother.

"Francis!" Claudette beamed. She almost got up to hug him, but she thought better of it and remained seated. "I'm so glad you wanted to meet up."

Francis just hummed quietly.

Claudette's smile disappeared. "I suppose I still have a lot of explaining to do." she said, brushing her fringe out of her eyes.

A few moments of awkward silence passed between them before Claudette finally plucked up the courage to speak.

"I never wanted to leave you there, Francis."

"Then why did you?"

Claudette sighed. "I was still very young, not ready to raise a child on my own and... your father made me chose. You or him." She took a deep breath, trying her hardest not to cry. "I know I made the wrong choice but... I just... I couldn't do it alone, Francis. Since leaving France, I had no one except your father and..." She gave another sigh. "I'm so sorry, _mon__bébé_." She shook her head, letting a few tears slip from her eyes.

Francis frowned, taking in all the information that Claudette was giving him. True, she had made the wrong decision, but what kind of a man makes someone choose between him or their child?

Eventually, he reached out and lay a tentative hand on his mother's shoulder.

With the gentle touch, Claudette's head shot up, looking into her son's eyes.

"I forgive you, _maman_." said Francis, still sounding a little uncertain.

Claudette's bright smile returned, and this time she did jump up and hug her son. She pulled him to her, tightly, sobbing into his shoulder. She repeated her apology, how much she'd missed him and how she'd never stopped thinking about him.

Francis returned her embrace with a small smile. Sixteen wasn't too late to fix a broken relationship with you mother.

* * *

**End Note: So, I was reading through some of the older chapters and... there is so much implied Spamano in this story. I ship Spamano so hard, I don't even realise when I'm writing it, haha.  
****Also, I just uploaded the prologue of my new story called The Game. It's going to be very different from Apple Tree House, but if you feel like checking it out, I'll be a very happy Lolly. No shameless self promotion going on here, no...  
****The song for this chapter is Baby Mine from Dumbo.  
****~Lolly xXx**


	28. A Stranger

"Guys," Yekaterina rushed into the kitchen, a firm grasp on Gilbert's wrist. "Gilbert just got his results!"

Everyone looked up, all shooting the same question. "Did you pass?"

"I don't know yet, I didn't have time to open it before Katy dragged me in here." replied Gilbert, prying his wrist from the Ukrainian's hand.

A chorus of "Open it!" was heard, making Gilbert chuckle as he tore open the brown envelope.

He carefully read and reread the letter, taking in every tiny detail.

The room was in total silence while he did so.

"Gilbert." Feliciano spoke. "Did you do good, ve?"

Gilbert let a small chuckle slip before he threw the envelope down on the table. "I'm a full time care worker!" he yelled.

Feliciano literally jumped into the new care workers arms. "Well done! I'm so happy for you!"

"Thanks, kid."

All the residents and workers congratulated and hugged Gilbert half to death.

"Thank you, everyone." said Gilbert, struggling out of the most suffocating hug ever. He turned and went to leave. "I'm going to go brag on Tumblr."

"_Bruder_."

Gilbert glanced back over his shoulder, his eyes meeting Ludwig's.

"_Ich bin stolz auf dich_."

With a gentle smile, Gilbert replied. "_Danke_, Ludwig."

* * *

Arthur yawned and stretched out his arms. He'd hardly slept at all, but a lie in wasn't an option today.

Today was the date he'd agreed on for his brothers' visit.

Peter was more than excited, and had already dressed and made his way down to breakfast.

For Arthur, it was hard to be excited. He remembered how miserable the four elder Kirklands had made his life when they were younger.

"Are you _still_ in bed?"

Arthur looked up to see Alfred leaning against the door frame, arms folded. "It's not like you to sleep in, dude."

Looking over at his clock, Arthur cursed, jumping out of bed.

10:45.

His brother's would be here in fifteen minutes.

"Rough night?" asked Alfred, sitting on the Brit's bed.

Arthur sighed, digging through his wardrobe for a clean t-shirt. "Too right." he replied. He pulled off his pyjama top, replacing it with a plain, blue t-shirt. "All I've been thinking of is meeting up with my brothers again."

"So, what are your bros' names?" Alfred lay on his stomach, pulling a random book from Arthur's bedside table to skim over while his friend was getting dressed.

"Well, there's Aiden, then the twins, Patrick and Sean, then there's Daffydd." replied Arthur, closing his wardrobe and quickly yanking a comb through his unruly hair.

Alfred looked up, dropping the book. "So there were like six of you living in one house?"

"No. We all have different mothers." Arthur gave up on taming his messy locks and tossed the comb back onto his bedside table. "Aiden lived up in Scotland, the twins lived in Ireland and Daffydd lived in Wales."

"Arthur, it's almost eleven." came Jenny's voice from downstairs.

Arthur flicked his fringe a little before turning on his heel and heading out of the room, Alfred close behind.

* * *

"Daffydd," Patrick paused, tapping his feet on the concrete. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" he asked.

Daffydd sighed. "This was _your_ idea."

"Exactly."

Sean frowned, placing a hand on his twin's shoulder. "Paddy has a point, Dai. Artie may not remember us as the best brothers in the world."

"Well, he agreed to meet us." Aiden chipped in, stubbing out his cigarette on a wall.

"Thank you, Aiden." Daffydd nodded to his eldest brother and turned back, continuing to walk in the direction of the care home. "Come on, you lot."

After another few minutes of walking, the four boys reached Apple Tree House. Daffydd jogged up and knocked the door.

The door was opened by a small girl with big, green eyes.

Daffydd smiled, kneeling down to the girl's level. "Hello there, _cariad._" he greeted. "May we come in?"

The girl blinked, looking at each of the brothers in turn. She smiled. "Hello, you must be Peter's older brothers." She stepped aside. "Please, come on in."

The brothers walked in, looking around.

"Jenny!" the little girl yelled, skipping off. "Peter's brother's are here!"

The head carer appeared in the doorway the little girl had just left through. "Hello." she greeted. "Would you like to follow me into the office?"

* * *

Arthur was sitting at the table with his head down when Yekaterina found him.

"I'm guessing you didn't sleep well last night?" asked the care worker.

Arthur simply grunted.

Yekaterina hummed. "Well, I've been sent to tell you that your brothers are here." she said. "They're in the office waiting for you."

With a quick shake to wake himself up, Arthur downed the rest of his tea and got to his feet, making his way to the office.

Peter was already there, chatting happily away.

Daffydd was the first to notice the other Kirkland. "Arthur!" he chimed, getting to his feet and awkwardly hugging his brother.

Pulling away from the Welshman, Arthur cleared his throat. "You said you had some news?" he said.

Daffydd sighed, looking a little hurt. Still, it was understandable that Arthur wouldn't be too comfortable with them yet.

"Sit down, Arthur." sad Aiden.

Arthur did as he was told and took a seat next to Peter.

"It's about your mammy." Patrick and Sean said in unison, Patrick laying his hand on Arthur's shoulder as Sean did the same to Peter.

Peter looked up them, frowning. "What about her?"

"Overdose." Aiden certainly didn't beat around the bush. "We don't know if it was suicide or an accident. Either way, she's dead."

There was a few moments of silence before Arthur scoffed. "I honestly can not bring myself to care in the slightest." he said.

"That's not all." said Sean.

"Dad wants you two to go and live with him." continued Patrick.

Peter opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Arthur.

"He had his chance." he snapped, getting to his feet. "If that's all you wanted to say you needn't have wasted your time." With that, he turned on his heel and left.

* * *

**End Note: Sorry about the wait guys. I'm such a shit for starting other things while I already have stuff on. ****My ask blog hasn't been updated since Nyotalia week. WHICH WAS TWO WEEKS AGO!  
****Oh, guys I want to ask you an important question. Should I make a cover for this with MMD? I really want you guys to give my your opinions!  
****Translation time:  
****Ich bin stolz auf dich –**** I'm proud of you.  
****Cariad – Love.  
****The song for this chapter is A Stranger by A Perfect Circle.  
****~Lolly xXx**


	29. Could It Be

Feliciano whined quietly, tugging on the silk skirt in his hands. "But I don't want you to go!" he squeaked.

With a soft sigh, Seraphina Vargas knelt down, placing a hand atop her son's head. "We won't be gone long, Feliciano." she promised, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "I want you to be a big boy and stay here with Nonno and Lovino and I'll see you in the morning, okay? Can you do that for me?"

Feliciano sniffled, nodding as he uncurled his hand from his mother's skirt.

Seraphina leant in and pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek. "Good boy."

"Don't worry about a thing, Seraphina." said Romulus, scooping his grandson up to rest against his arm, Lovino on the other. "They'll be fine."

Lovino frowned. "I don't understand why we need to be babysat, anyway!" he complained.

"You're four years old, Lovino." Seraphina chuckled, quickly swooping in for a kiss off her eldest son, who rubbed the spot where she had kissed, glaring.

"Seraphina, if we don't leave right now we'll miss our reservation." chided the boys' father.

Pressing one last kiss to her sons' cheeks, Seraphina turned and followed her husband out of the door.

Feliciano's eyes sprang open. He sat up and looked around the room, quickly reminding himself of where he was.

Apple Tree House.

A care home.

He sighed, pulling his knees up to his chest.

That was the last time he saw her. He hadn't dreamt about that in years.

He sniffed as tears began pooling in his eyes. Not wanting to be alone, he leapt out of his bed and climbed strait into Lovino's.

Lovino, who _was_ asleep, just huffed and moved over, giving his brother more room.

With a quiet whisper, which even he himself hardly heard, Feliciano closed his mouth around his thumb and tried to get back to sleep.

Lovino waited until he heard Feliciano's breathing slow down, the way one's breathing does when they sleep, before draping an arm over his brother. He wouldn't admit it, but he had missed the times when Feliciano would climb into bed with him.

It really upset him that they weren't as close as they used to be. Still, Feliciano had seemed happier since he'd formed friendships. And Lovino had to admit, even if it only was to himself, that he enjoyed the new friendships he had formed, as few as they were.

Feliciano had always been able to make friends effortlessly, even if Lovino had terminated them almost as soon as they were established. He just had a certain charm that made people want to be his friend.

Lovino was rather the opposite. He'd never had a real friend, only Feliciano.

Now he had Antonio. His best and only _real_ friend. The others claimed to be his friends, but only Antonio ever bothered asking him to join whatever ridicules game was going on or even how he felt.

Having had quite enough of thinking about this foolish subject, Lovino shook his head and closed his eyes, attempting to get some damn sleep.

* * *

Elizabeta was the first to wake up. Well, the first resident. Jenny, Yekaterina and Gilbert had their alarm clocks set to 8 AM (which was certainly a challenge for Gilbert).

As usual, she didn't bother changing out of her pyjamas or brushing her hair before she went downstairs for breakfast, she just slung her hair up in a messy bun, tugged on her slippers and made her way down to the kitchen.

She dug through the cupboards for a while, still not knowing what she was in the mood for.

After looking through the cupboards and the fridge for about three minutes, she decided that bacon was always a good idea, and set about warming some oil in the frying pan.

"You making bacon?" asked Gilbert, pulling a chair out with his foot and collapsing onto it, making the old wood creak in protest.

Elizabeta sighed. Great. No one should have to deal with _this_ moron so early in the morning. "That, I am." she replied, laying a few pieces onto the pan, earning a hiss from the oil.

Gilbert punched the air. "Yay, bacon!" he cheered.

He chanted those same two words over and over, driving Eliza insane with his stupid voice.

"Gilbert, if you don't shut up I'm going to plant this frying pan upside your head!" she yelled.

Gilbert pouted. "Geez, sorry." he muttered. "I was just showing some enthusiasm for breakfast."

"There's being enthusiastic, then there's being annoying." came a voice from the hallway. Roderich stepped into the room, already dressed as usual, with the Vargas twins close behind him.

"Morning, mama!" chimed Feliciano.

Elizabeta smiled and petted his head. "Good morning, dear." she replied. "And good morning to you, Lovino."

"Morning, ma— Eliza." Lovino's cheeks turned pink as he hoped his slip-up went unnoticed. As much as it irked him, Elizabeta really was a lot like his mother. They even smelled the same. Not that Lovino sniffed her, but she was fond of hugging him and he had to breathe.

As time ticked on, more and more to the house's residents joined them for bacon. Eliza was shocked that there was enough, but Jenny always made sure to keep well stocked up on everything.

Most of the residents dispersed as soon as they were done eating, however, Elizabeta always stayed to clear up, Roderich always stayed, for some unfathomable reason and today, Feliciano felt like staying too.

"Mama?" he voiced, reaching out and grabbing hold of Elizabeta's pyjama top.

Eliza turned to face him. "Yes, sweetie?"

Feliciano looked over at Roderich, then back up to Elizabeta. "If you're my mama, is Roderich my papa?" he asked, blinking innocently.

Roderich almost choked on his tea. "W-Why would you ask that, Feliciano?" he responded, taking off his glasses and wiping them with a tea towel.

With a shrug, Feliciano lay his chin in the table. "Well, you kind of remind me of my papa." he replied. "And you and mama are going to end up together, aren't you?"

Elizabeta turned away and carried on washing the dishes, hiding her burning face.

Casting a glance up to the Hungarian, Roderich cleared his throat. "We'll see." he muttered, with a small smile.

* * *

**End Note: (I didn't ship AusHun until I started writing this) Before anything... over 200 reviews? Are you FrUKing shitting me? I would like to sing Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah, but my uncle is in the room and he can be rather judgemental...  
****So, anyway. My boyfriend came up with this theory that I'm actually controlled by hundreds of little chibi-tans that live in my head. This has made me develop my own theory that at around 11/11:30 PM Sensible!Me yells "LOLLY, IT'S BEDTIME!" but Creative!Me is all "But you have writing that needs doing!" So I stay up until stupid o'clock writing and in the morning I'm Zombie!Lolly and Sensible!Me is doing that smug-ass-bitch thing she does so well. Ugh! The things I do for you, FF!  
****Also, like the cover? Yes, Feli is sucking his thumb and yes, that is a magnificent staircase 8D  
****The song for this chapter is Could It Be by Christy Carlson Romano.  
****~Lolly xXx**


	30. Farewell Mister Sorrow

Arthur sat cross-legged in the garden, ripping out individual blades of grass, one by one. He'd been a little more irritable than usual since his brothers had visited.

Peter had tried to ask why he didn't want to go and live with their father, to which Arthur had rudely snapped "Because we'll just end up getting dumped back here again!" He had apologised for yelling once he'd calmed down, but remained adamant that he was not going to live with his father.

Gritting his teeth, Arthur pulled his legs up and rested his head on his knees. His father had never been interested in him, so why now? They'd been in care for years and only now, after his mother died, was their father remotely interested.

"Arthur," The Brit turned just in time to see Francis sit beside him. "Are you alright?"

"Do I _look_ alright?" snapped Arthur, going back to mutilating the grass.

Francis frowned. "No need to bark at me." he grumbled. Still, he knew he was exactly the same the first time Claudette had shown up. "I know I did the same thing, but you shouldn't take it out on the others." he advised.

With an aggravated groan, Arthur got to his feet. "I know I'm being a choice bitch, but I'm just _really_ fucking annoyed at the nerve of that arsehole!" he yelled, kicking the wooden playhouse.

"I know how you feel. I really do." said Francis, getting up and placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Peter asked me to talk to you. He wants contact with your elder brothers, but he's too afraid to talk to you about it."

Arthur sighed, frowning. "I'll talk to him later." he said.

* * *

Ivan was halfway through cleaning his room when he heard the door open, and then close again. He looked up, smiling with a raised eyebrow when he saw Natalya at his door, already in her nightie, holding her hairbrush. He glanced up at the clock, reading the time as just a little past six o'clock. "It's a little early to be getting ready for bed, isn't it?" he asked.

The younger of the two didn't listen, she just crossed the room and climbed up onto her brother's bed.

Ever since Ivan had moved rooms, Natalya had come into his room before she went to bed so he could brush her hair and tell her stories, mostly about their father and her mother. The pretty Belarusian woman that his father had wed may not have been Ivan's mother, but he still loved her as if she was.

He often felt as though he was somehow betraying his mother by liking his step-mother, and it always confused him how all the step-mothers in the story books were cruel when his was so lovely, so for a while he didn't know what to think of the new woman in their lives, but slowly, he got over his uncertainty and came to love her.

With a fond smile, Ivan sat on the bed behind his sister, taking the brush from her and beginning to gently work it through her tangled hair. How she managed to get it this tangled in the first place was beyond him. Whenever he saw her throughout the day—which was a lot—her hair was always perfectly silky and knot-free, but when it came time to brush it in the evening it was full of tangles.

Natalya tugged on her brother's trousers, gaining his attention. "Tell me about mama." she whispered.

"Your mama," Ivan began, still concentrating on untangling her hair without hurting her. "was an amazing person. She was kind, generous and very pretty." He grabbed hold her his sister's shoulders, leaning over her. "You look a lot like her." he said, returning to his original position to continue brushing her hair. "Her hair was longer than yours. So long she could sit on it."

Natalya smiled to herself, wondering how long it would take for her to grow her hair that long. Although, she wasn't far off. Her hair almost reached her bottom now. "If I grow my hair, will I be pretty like mama?" she asked.

With a chuckle, Ivan set the brush down, having restored Natalya's hair to it's original silky state. "You're already pretty." he said, wrapping his arms around the small girl.

* * *

Peter was already tucked up in bed when Arthur entered their shared bedroom. He could tell his brother was still awake, due to the fact that he had the quilt pulled over his head. He always kicked the covers off when he was sleeping.

With a sigh, Arthur quickly got into his pyjamas before sitting on the edge of Peter's bed and placing a hand gently atop the lump in the covers that was Peter Kirkland.

"Peter." Arthur shook the boy, who the sat up and glared at him.

"What do _you_ want?" he grumbled.

Arthur sighed. "Look Peter, just because I don't want a relationship with dad or the boys, doesn't mean that you can't have one." he said. "It's just... you were too young to remember, but they never were the nicest of people to us. I'm just trying to stop you from getting hurt because I care about you. But if you want to go and live with dad or have contact hours with our brothers then carry on. I won't stop you."

Furrowing his eyebrows, Peter let himself lean back. "You won't be upset?" he asked.

"Of course not." Arthur leaned forward, wrapping his arms around his little brother. "I know I don't always show it but I _do_ love you. You're happiness is important to me, Peter." he said, rubbing the younger Kirkland's back.

Peter smiled, hugging back. "I do want to live with dad." he said. "But I promise to visit you all the time."

* * *

**End Note: YAY! More Ivan! I read this really sad/fluffy fic about him, just him, no pairing or anything, it was just him on his own being sad and cute, and suddenly really wanted to write about him, so I gave you guys a quick Ivan-centric filler in between the Kirkland bits.**  
**The song for this chapter is Farewell Mister Sorrow by All About Eve.**  
**~Lolly xXx**


	31. Run

"So, when are you leaving?" asked Lili, frowning at her friend from over the table.

Peter reached forward, trading his crayon for one of a different colour. "Well, dad says it'll take him about a week to sort out my room." he replied. "So, I should be gone by next Thursday."

Lili pouted, stretching her arms over the table. "I'm going to miss you." she whined, sticking out her bottom lip in an adorable pout.

"I'll miss you too, Lili." said Peter. "But I'm going to visit all the time! I'll come by after school and on weekends when there's nothing to do."

Natalya, who had been barely listening this whole time, lifted her head from the table. "You're going to school?" she asked, as if unable to believe such a thing were possible.

Peter chuckled. "Of course I am." he replied. He rolled his crayon across the table, having finished his picture. "I'm going to go to a public school and make lots of new friends." He almost missed the little frown on Lili's face. "Don't look so sad. I'm just going to make friends, you two will always be my _best_ friends."

"Peter," The young Brit's attention was drawn by Yekaterina's familiar voice calling his name. Yekaterina shook her keys. "You have contact with your brothers in five minutes, let's go."

With a nod, Peter said goodbye to Lili and Natalya and jumped down from his chair, following the care worker out to her car.

Lili sighed, laying her head on the desk. She let her eyes close and swung her legs. Her mind drifted to thoughts of her own past, but she quickly opened her eyes and killed those thoughts with a small gasp. It had been so long since her last flashback. She was doing so well, she'd kick herself if she had one now.

"Are you alright?" Natalya reached out to tuck a loose lock of her friend's hair behind her ear.

Looking up through stands of blonde, Lili frowned. "Do you remember what your parents were like, Natalya?" she asked, combing her fingers through the Belarusian's hair, which was dangling in front of her.

Natalya shook her head, and for a while, the two just sat there, playing with each other's hair. "But my big brother does." Natalya smiled softly.

Letting the other girl's hair slip through her fingers, Lili sat up strait. "What does he say they were like?"

"He says they were both lovely."

Lili's face fell and Natalya instantly knew she'd said the wrong thing. Not knowing what to do, Natalya simply apologised.

"It's not your fault." said Lili, with a shake of her head. "It's just... sometimes I feel like Vash and I are the only one's here with parents who weren't nice."

Natalya raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you serious?"

The question was, of course, rhetorical. Nevertheless, Lili opened her mouth to respond, quickly shutting it again when Natalya's hand flew up in front of her.

"Don't answer that." she said. "Lili, most people here had parents who weren't nice." Flicking her hair over her shoulder, she stood, taking Lili's wrist in hand. "Come with me."

Lili didn't argue, she just let the older girl drag her to the office.

After learning that the person they were looking for wasn't there, they decided to search the house, eventually finding exactly who the needed in the classroom with his laptop, pretending to get his reports done.

"Gilbert." Natalya pushed the door open, dragging Lili inside.

Gilbert quickly closed down Tumblr, just in case the young Belarusian told on him, like she had before. "What is it, girls?" he asked, with his usual over-confident beam.

Lili briefly wondered what her friend was up to.

"Lili wants to know why everyone's parents were nice and hers weren't." Natalya pushed Lili in front of her, who tripped. Luckily Gilbert caught her before she hit the ground.

With a quiet sigh, Gilbert lifted her onto his lap. "Oh, _kleine_. Trust me, you aren't the only one with God awful parents around here." he muttered, viciously hissing 'God awful parents'.

Tipping her head back to look Gilbert in the eye, Lili frowned. "Did you have bad parents too?" she asked.

Gilbert almost laughed. "Well, if your definition of 'bad' is my mother getting high while my father knocked me and my brother from room to room, yes Lili. I had bad parents." he replied, gently petting Lili's hair. "If your past bothers you that much, maybe you should try talking to your brother about it." he suggested with a reassuring smile.

* * *

Later that day, Lili decided to take Gilbert's advice and talk to Vash about their past.

She waited until she and Vash were alone in her room, Vash having put up little argument when she practically forced him to come and play with her.

They played quietly for a while, Vash inwardly cringing due to the fact that he was actually playing with dolls.

"Vash," Lili put down her doll. "was a bad child?" she asked.

Vash looked up. "What are you talking about? Of course you weren't."

"Then why did our parents hate me?"

To say that Vash was taken aback by the question would be an understatement. He huffed, shaking his head. "Because they were c—" he cut himself off before he could sat that word. "They were bad people, Lili." He took hold of his sister's shoulders, making her look him in the eye. "Don't you ever think that the things they did were your fault. Okay?"

Lili nodded, chewing her bottom lip.

Vash hummed, pulling his sister into a hug. "Lets not talk about it anymore." he muttered. "Bringing you here was the only thing I've ever done right. I don't want to remember all the bad things before that."

He wasn't being dramatic. He truly felt that way.

Back when they lived with their parents, Vash felt totally powerless to help his younger sister. He could honestly sat that the day he ran away with Lili was the greatest day of his life.

* * *

**End Note: Lili centric chapter, because I can't resist her adorableness lately. Sorry about the OOC Vash orz  
****Dear followers, I'm sorry to announce that Apple Tree House has 5 chapters left, tops. I only have one more thing to get through, then the epilogue. However, I am considering doing a series of oneshots with the characters back stories. I'd very much like to hear your opinions on that, if I do it, get your tissues ready, 'kay?  
****Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! I turned 19 today~ (Well, it's past midnight, so technically it was yesterday .)  
****The song for this chapter is Run by Snow Patrol.  
****~Lolly xXx**


	32. So Soon

Elizabeta sighed, pulling herself up. She'd woken up about ten minutes ago and had been unable to get back to sleep.

Deciding that lying there was doing no good for her, she threw the covers off herself and got up, making her way downstairs.

Far used to being the first one up, she went to enter the kitchen to get a start on breakfast. She stopped in her tracks when she heard the TV.

With a raised eyebrow, she turned from the kitchen door and moved frown the hall to the living room.

In the living room, Arthur sat on the sofa, lips pressed to the rim of a mug filled with tea. He was staring at the television. Not watching it, just staring blankly at the screen.

"Arthur?" Elizabeta stepped into the room, tucking a lock of tangled hair behind her ear. "Are you up early of have you not slept?" she asked.

"Which do you think?" countered Arthur, mug still at his lips.

Eliza frowned, seating herself beside him. "It's today, isn't it?" She knew the answer already, and Arthur knew she did, so he didn't bother answering her. With a sigh, she put an arm around him. "You'll still see him all the time, Arthur."

Shrugging her off, Arthur placed his mug on the side table, bringing his knees up to his chest. "It's not even that." he said. "I am going to miss him, he's my little brother, but what's getting to me is..." He gave a sigh, running a hand through his hair. "I've always been there for him, and dad has just randomly decided that he cares and suddenly the sun shines out of his arse!" he ranted.

Trying her hardest not to chuckle at that... colourful expression, Elizabeta pulled Arthur back into a hug. "Artie, everyone in care wants a family. Even you, really. Right?"

Arthur glared off in the opposite direction.

"And now Peter has a chance to have a family and he's going to take it. It doesn't mean he thinks any less of you." she soothed. "Have you even spoken to him?"

"Of course I haven't."

Elizabeta sighed. "Arthur," her tone was that of a mother scolding a naughty child. "Talk to him before he leaves."

* * *

Despite Elizabeta's demand, Arthur found himself successfully avoiding his younger brother that whole morning.

He ate breakfast before everyone got up then took some tea and biscuits up to Alfred's room, where the two chatted about trivial things for a while. However, the topic of conversation inevitably turned to Peter's impending departure.

"So, when's your dad coming to pick up Peter?" asked Alfred, dunking a biscuit into his tea. He didn't really care for tea, but the biscuits were delicious.

Arthur shrugged. "I don't particularly care. I plan to be well out of the way when he gets here."

Alfred raised an eyebrow. "You're not even going to be there to say goodbye to your brother?" He frowned, fishing another biscuit from the packet.

"Well, what would you do if it was Matthew?"

Instantly, Alfred's expression darkened. "You know damn well that it's different with us." he snapped.

"I know." Arthur sighed in defeat. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out like that." He nibbled on a biscuit, leaning his forehead on Alfred's shoulder.

Alfred put an arm around the Brit, patting his back.

The two sat in total silence, until—

_Knock, knock, knock._

"Arthur!"

_Knock, knock, knock._

"Arthur!"

_Knock, knock, knock._

"Arthur!"

With another sigh, Arthur pulled himself out of Alfred's hug.

"Dude, she sounds pissed..." Alfred raised an eyebrow, craning his neck round to stare at the door.

"Yes, well..." Arthur mumbled. "I did promise her I'd spend some time with Peter before he left."

Alfred sighed. "I don't even know what your issue is." he said, getting up to open the door.

* * *

Meanwhile, Peter was downstairs waiting to be picked up. His father had just called and was on his way.

Peter sat on the sofa, swinging his legs. All his bags were packed and waiting by the door.

After about five minutes of waiting, a knock came at the door. Peter jumped up from his seat to answer it, but was beaten to it by Gilbert.

As expected, the person behind the door was Kieran Kirkland.

Peter pushed passed Gilbert, throwing himself at his father.

Kieran smiled, lifting the nine year old onto his hip. "Hiya, lad." he chuckled. "You ready to go?"

With a nod, Peter jumped down and rushing into the living room to grab his bags.

"Peter,"

The young boy jumped when he heard his name being called. He looked up to see Arthur in the corner.

"I... just wanted to come and say goodbye..." muttered Arthur, fiddling with the hem of his t-shirt.

Peter smiled. "Do you want to come and talk to dad?" he asked.

"No," was Arthur's instant response. "I... I can't face him yet." He sighed, moving over to sit on the sofa. He reached out and pulled his brother onto his lap. "I'm going to miss you, pest."

Peter leaned his head back onto Arthur's shoulder. "I'm going to miss you, too. Pleb." he chuckled. "You know I'll be back visiting all the time, right?"

Arthur smiled. "I know." he replied.

"Peter, don't take too long."

With a frown, Arthur let his brother go. "I'll see you soon, okay?" he said, ruffling his brother's hair.

* * *

It was getting late, Gilbert noticed with a sigh. "Just one more paragraph and I'll be done!" he muttered to himself.

Due to excessive slacking off, he had fallen behind on his reports, so he was staying up until he finished them.

Luckily, this particular report was Kiku's. He never gave any of the staff trouble and his work was always perfect, so Gilbert flew through his report.

Soon enough, he had the report done and could finally go to bed. He shut down his laptop and turned off the lamp. He was about to get up and go upstairs, but was stopped by the office phone.

He didn't whether to ignore it and go to bed or answer it. Who the hell could be calling a care home at this time anyway.

With another sigh, he reached over Jenny's desk to answer the phone.

"Hello, Apple Tree House. Gilbert Beilschmidt speaking." he answered in a surprisingly professional tone.

He waited for a reply, but none came. "Hello?" He repeated.

The line remained silent. Gilbert was just about to put the phone down when—

"...C-Ciao..."

* * *

**End Note: I don't know whether this is a cliff hanger or not... I mean... You guys know who it is, right? If not, stay tuned~ For those of you who know, who actually expected this? (Did anyone get the Big Bang Theory reference?)  
****While I was writing this, I was talking to a friend of mine over FB chat and I asked her what she thought of the name Kieran for Arthur and Peter's dad and she replied with; "I bet he says things like 'Hey, I'm Kieran Kirkland, but my dudes call me KK!'" and now I can't stop laughing xD  
****Random life snippet; A cat keeps walking back and forth my garden wall, just mocking my dog. Which is funny, until Vinny starts trying to break my patio doors orz  
****The song for this chapter is So Soon by Marianas Trench.  
****~Lolly xXx**


	33. Shadow Games

Gilbert honestly didn't know how to handle this situation. So he did the only thing he could think of. He went to get Jenny.

The head care worker groaned and complained about being torn away from her warm bed at two in the morning. Still, she wrapping her fluffy house coat around herself and followed Gilbert down to the office. She lifted the phone, which had been placed on the desk, and lifted it to her ear. "Hello, Jennifer Dale, how can I help you?" she asked, wishing she could ask them if they knew what the bloody time was.

"Ah, hello."

As soon as Jenny heard the Italian accent she knew who this was.

"My name is Romulus Vargas, I'm Feliciano and Lovino's—"

"Yes, I know who you are." Jenny interrupted. She read enough about him in the boys' file. "I would like to know why you're calling. Especially so early in the morning."

"Well," Romulus cleared his throat. "I tried calling the last care home I knew the boys were in and they gave me your number. As for the time... I wanted to call as soon as possible."

With a sigh, Jenny seated herself on the desk. She put her hand over the receiver "Gil, be a diamond and make me some coffee?" she asked. It was clear that she wasn't going back to bed any time soon.

Gilbert nodded and left the room.

Jenny gave him a smile and went back to the phone. "That still doesn't explain exactly _why _you're calling." she said.

"Isn't it obvious?" he asked. "I want to start an appeal to have my grandsons back in my care."

Giving a quiet groan, Jenny pulled her legs up and sat cross-legged on the desk, something she hadn't done since she was a newbie. Why did people always try calling her about this? From what she'd read, Romulus had attempted several appeals, so he should knew the drill by now, right?

Just at the right moment, Gilbert came back with a mug in each hand. He set one down beside Jenny and took his own back over to his desk. He turned his laptop back on, pretending to have more reports to do. In reality, he was just nosey. He could always troll Tumblr for a few minutes.

"Mr. Vargas, I'm sure you know by now that you need to go through the court for that." said Jenny, taking a sip of her coffee.

A sigh was heard over the phone. "_Si_, _si_. I know." muttered Romulus. "But I was hoping you could review my case and maybe... help me?"

"Well, I could read over the files, but I don't think I'll be much help." Jenny downed the rest of her coffee. "Why don't you call back tomorrow at a reasonable time?" She wished she'd hidden her disdain a little better.

"A-Ah, _si_. I'm sorry." Romulus stuttered. "I'll... speak to you tomorrow."

* * *

The next morning, Lovino woke up with someone wrapped tightly around him. Groaning, he stretched out, pushing the other person away with his feet. "Feli, get off." he grumbled, turning onto his stomach and tucking his hands under the pillow.

"I'm over here, Lovi." he heard Feliciano giggle from his own bed.

Lovino's eyes snapped open. He turned back, pushing against the person's stomach with his feet again, but this time managing to push them off the bed.

The person said "Ouch!"

Slowly, Lovino peeked over the side of his bed, finding none other than Antonio sprawled on the floor, pouting.

"That was rude, Lovi!"

"_I_ was rude?" squeaked the eldest Italian. "You were in my damn bed!"

Antonio heaved himself up, crossing his arms on the bed and laying his head on them. "I was feeling lonely, Lovi." he whined.

Lovino just turned over, facing the wall. He pulled the quilt over his face. "Then climb into bed with your damn room mate!" he hissed, ignoring Antonio's pathetic whimpers.

Deciding that he no longer wished to listen to his brother and Antonio doing their usual back and forth, Feliciano tumbled out of bed and ventured downstairs.

"Good morning, Feliciano." sang Elizabeta.

Feliciano smiled and waved, heading strait to the living room. Maybe he could get a few more minutes sleep on the sofa.

"Feli!"

No such luck.

Gilbert grabbed hold of Feliciano's arm, pulling him the rest of the way to the living room, shutting the door behind him. "Look, I really shouldn't be telling you this!"

With that as him opening line, Feliciano began to worry about just what Gilbert was about to relay to him.

"But we got a phone call late last night." Gilbert paused, wondering once again whether he should say anything. "Your grandfather is trying to start an appeal to get you back."

Feliciano didn't respond. He didn't know how to. Did he want to live with his Nonno again? Of course he did! But did he want to leave Apple Tree House and all the friends he had made? Not in a million years! And how would Lovino react?

Lovino was becoming more and more confusing as the days went by. A few months ago, if their grandfather had turned up to take them back, Lovino would have jumped at the chance. But he'd formed friendships now.

When you've known someone as long and Feliciano had known Lovino, you're bound to know them inside out. Lovino was clingy and possessive, that much was obvious, but he was also very family orientated. Nothing was more important to Lovino than his family.

"Gilbert," Feliciano frowned. "Do not tell my brother about this!" And with that, he dashed off.

Gilbert stood there with a raised eyebrow. He certainly wasn't expecting that reaction.

* * *

**End Note: So, um... Hi... Sorry if this chapter seems a little rushed. Today is a really bad day for me. I can't remember if I've ever mentioned this before but my three youngest siblings were adopted a little while ago and today is my brother's birthday. I've been a miserable sod all day. So, Happy birthday, Mackenzie!**  
**The song for this chapter is Shadow Games by Jean Lyrics.**  
**~Lolly xXx**


	34. Carolyn

Throughout the day, Gilbert had come dangerously close to telling Lovino about his grandfather's phone call a number of times, and it was only 1 o'clock. It was becoming difficult. He really wanted to talk to Francis and Antonio about it, but he couldn't talk to Antonio without Lovino being there.

So, sacrificing Antonio, Gilbert pulled Francis into the classroom. "I need your help." he said. He pulled his laptop out of his bag setting it on the table and switching it on. "Feli and Lovi's grandfather called here last night. He's trying to start an appeal to get the twins back."

"Well, that's wonderful." chimed Francis.

Gilbert sighed. "I'm not so sure." He logged into Apple Tree House's data files, pulling up the Vargas twins' file. "I don't want to help send the twins back to their grandfather until I know what he did to have them taken off him in the first place."

With a sigh, Francis seated himself beside his friend. "Gilbert, do you really think the court would grant him custody if he was still the way he was back then?" he asked.

"The court hasn't granted him custody yet." replied Gilbert, reading through the file. "I just want some background info before I make any attempt to help him.

Knowing how stubborn Gilbert could get, Francis knew he wasn't going to win this argument. So, waste of time or not, he began reading over Gilbert's shoulder.

* * *

"Do you think Feliciano is acting strange today?" asked Lovino, taking a sip from the olive-green cup in his hand. He'd claimed it as his own a few weeks back.

Antonio hummed, giving the younger Italian who was currently sitting at the table with Ludwig and Kiku a quick once-over. "Not really." he replied. "He's a little paler than usual... Maybe he's sick."

With a glare, Lovino shifted in his seat. "He's not sick." he said.

"Twin connection?"

"No, he's just really whiney and annoying when he's sick. More so than usual."

Antonio chuckled, but didn't comment.

"It's..." Lovino sighed, fiddling with his fingers. "It's like he's not telling me something. Something important." He frowned, bringing his cup back up to his lips and nibbling the plastic.

Feliciano glanced up, catching Lovino's eyes for a moment before turning strait back into the conversation he'd been having with his two best friends.

Clamping his teeth down harder around the cup, Lovino let out a loud gasp as the plastic snapped and caught his lip. Red liquid splashed onto the floor, though luckily most of it was just tomato juice.

"Lovino!" Feliciano jumped out of his seat and rushed over to his brother, followed closely by Ludwig and Kiku.

"Lovi, are you okay?" asked Antonio, catching hold of Lovino's face. "Let me see."

Lovino lowered his hands, leaving his poor, bleeding lip pinched tightly between the split plastic.

Antonio frowned. He grabbed hold of Lovino's hand and placed it around his arm. "I'm going to pull it off." he said, quietly. "If I hurt you, you dig your nails in as hard as you can, got it?"

With a slow nod, Lovino closed his eyes.

As quickly as he could, Antonio squeezed the middle of the cup, opening the split a little wider and allowing himself to pull it off Lovino's lip with minimal pain.

"Okay, you can open your eyes now. It's off."

Lovino opened his eyes, his hand immediately coming up to feel where the split plastic and torn his skin.

"Are you alright, Lovi?" asked Feliciano, brushing past Antonio and wrapping his arms around his brother.

With a scoff, Lovino pushed Feliciano off. "You think I'm talking to you?" he snapped.

Feliciano took a step back. "What have I—"

"You've been fucking avoiding me all day, that's what you've done." Lovino hissed. He pushed passed the four in front of his a stormed off.

"Lovi, where a—"

"To get some damn Bonjela. My mouth kills!" he snapped over his shoulder as he stomped out of the room.

* * *

It had taken the entire walk to the bathroom for Lovino to calm down.

As he reached into the medicine cabinet for the Bonjela, he sighed. Maybe he had snapped a little too harshly at his brother, but he was in a lot of pain and in all fairness, Feliciano had been purposefully avoiding him.

Still, maybe he should apologise.

After smoothing some of the cool gel over the cut in his mouth, Lovino recapped the Bonjela and put it back in it's place.

He sighed, his tongue automatically flicking over the gel in his mouth. No one could resist licking Bonjela. Lovino was willing to be that even Ludwig did it.

Shutting the bathroom door behind him, Lovino made his way back downstairs and towards the kitchen, only stopping when he heard his name being mentioned in the classroom. As anyone would, he stood by the door, peering inside to see Gilbert and Francis hunched over a laptop.

"It says the boys were placed into care due to their grandfather's neglect." said Gilbert, staring at the screen in disbelief.

"That can't be right." gasped Francis, seeming equally surprised. "Bur their clinical assessment showed that they both scored none to minimal for neglect."

"The assessments were updated about three years ago. They'd been in care for at least five years by that time."

Lovino clenched his fists. They were reading his and Feliciano's files. Shaking, he pushed open the door, revealing himself to the two in the room.

Gilbert and Francis froze.

"Lovino," Francis got to his feet. "How long have you been stood there?" he asked.

"Long enough..." Lovino's voice cracked. "to know that not only are you reading my file, but you've read my clinical assessment."

"Lovino—"

Before Gilbert could say anything else, he found himself pinned to the spot by the mere look in Lovino's tear flooded eyes.

"Nonno didn't neglect us." Defended the eldest Italian. "No matter what that bullshit report says, he didn't neglect us!"

Without waiting for a response, he took off, running up to his room and slamming the door.

* * *

**End Note: Guys. I have everything sorted. Remember when I said I'd thought up 3 different endings for this? I've scrapped them all and thought up an even better one! Ooooh, I think it will leave you all happy!**  
**So, life update time. I had a haircut. I now have a fringe again for the first time since I was five.**  
**The song for this chapter is Carolyn by Black Veil Brides.**  
**~Lolly xXx**


	35. Torinoko City

"So, what are you going to do?" asked Kiku.

Feliciano sighed. He'd explained the situation to his friends in detail, and was looking for any sort of advice. "I don't know." he said.

"Well, you don't have to decide yet." replied Ludwig, laying a hand on Feliciano's shoulder. "Your grandfather has to have custody granted before you have to decide anything."

That was when they heard a door slam loudly upstairs.

The only thing that Feliciano could think was 'I really hope that's not my brother.' He got to his feet, muttering a quick "I'll be back in a bit" and dashed up to the bedroom he shared with Lovino, followed closely by Antonio.

Before he even put his hand on the door knob, he could hear his twin sobbing. He paused for a moment, not knowing whether to go in or not. Nevertheless, he pushed the door open and stepped inside.

Lovino was sat on his bed, facing the wall with Feliciano's baby blue fleece blanket pulled up over his head.

"Lovi, what's wrong?" asked Antonio, pushing past Feliciano to pull the sobbing Italian into a hug, only to have his hand violently thrown off as soon as it touched Lovino's shoulder.

"Get fucked, bastard!" snapped the eldest Italian. "Leave me alone!" He turned back and pulling Feli's blanket back up.

Antonio frowned, sitting on the edge of his bed. "I only want to know what's the matter, Lovi." he said, calmly.

"Then go and ask your fucking friends!" Lovino's voice cracked as the sobs started all over again. "Now get the fuck out! I want to talk to my brother."

With a sigh, Antonio got up and walked out of the room, giving Feliciano a solemn look as he passed him.

As soon as the door clicked shut, Lovino turned, flinging himself at his brother. He wrapped his arms around his neck, crying heavily into Feliciano's shoulder.

"Why are you crying, fratello?" asked Feliciano, returning the hug and gently rubbing the weeping boy's back.

Lovino kept sobbing, trying to form sentences, but only managing to hiccup and blubber.

Feliciano sat down, still holding his twin. "Calm down, Lovi."

This was so weird. It was like a role reversal. And Feliciano did not like it one bit.

The elder of the two coughed and spluttered for a few seconds more before taking a deep breath (as instructed by Feliciano) and managing to calm himself down. "G-Gilbert and Fra... Francis..." he struggled, rubbing his eyes. "They were reading our files and... and they s-said that..." He coughed again, squeezing his eyes shut as more tears gathered in them. "That Nonno... neglected us."

Feliciano froze.

Lovino always did have a rose-tinted view of their past.

"Lovino," Feliciano tightened his hug. "that's the reason we were put into care." he said, still stroking the other's back.

Pausing for a moment, Lovino glared, pushing his brother off him. "What?" he growled.

With a frown, Feliciano sighed. "I'm sorry, Lovino. I clearly remember being left in the house with countless babysitters while Nonno was out." he said.

"You were four! How can you remember?" snapped the eldest.

"So were you, Lovi."

Lovino stood up, backing away from his brother. "He never neglected us!" he hissed with a shake of his head.

"I'm sorry that you don't remember, Lovi." Feliciano muttered. "But I do. And I'm not sure whether or not I want to go back."

"Go back?"

Feliciano bit his lip. He said too much.

"We have a chance to go back?"

The youngest opened his mouth to speak, but was saved by a quiet knock on the door as Yekaterina poked her head in. "Jenny wants to see you both in the office." she said.

Lovino glared at his brother for a couple of seconds before turning on his heel and marching out of the room.

* * *

Meanwhile, Antonio was searching high and low for Gilbert and Francis. He was just about ready to give up when he heard their voices coming from the classroom.

He pushed open the door, staring at his two best friends with a dangerous glare. "What the _fuck _did you guys say to Lovino?" he growled.

Francis stood up, holding his hands up in defence. "We didn't say anything _to_ him." he said. "He overheard something."

"What did he overhear that made him cry like that?"

With a sigh, Gilbert motioned his friend over. "Read this."

Antonio raised an eyebrow, making his way over and leaning over Gilbert's chair to read what was on the screen.

_Lovino and Feliciano Vargas have been taken into care due to physical and emotional neglect on the part of their grandfather._

The Spaniard's eyes widened. "Is this legit?" he asked.

"Official records." replied Gilbert. "There's more." he shut the lid of his laptop. "Their grandfather is trying to get them back. And it's not the first time he's tried, either."

Antonio's first thought was that he didn't want Lovino to go. He'd worked so hard to get the Italian to open up to him and just when everything seemed to be going right this happens! He didn't really care how selfish he sounded.

His second thought was; how upset would Lovino be if they were able to go and live with his grandfather and he ended up disappointing him.

But, wasn't this what Lovino wanted all along? To be home with his Nonno?

Oh, well. All he could do was inwardly hope that the courts denied him custody.

* * *

"Boys," Jenny smoothed out a sheet of paper for the third time. "I have some news..."

Already, Feliciano knew where this was going.

"Last night we received a phone call." Jenny kept pausing and finding something to fiddle with. "Now, I don't want you to get your hopes up. But, your grandfather is on in court for a hearing on Wednesday. He's trying to get you two back."

Everything was silent. It seemed like time had stopped, until Lovino jumped to his feet. "So we can go home?" he asked.

Jenny sighed. "Well, I said not to get your hopes up, but there is a chance." she explained.

With a bright smile, Lovino turned to his brother. "Feli, we can—"

Feliciano was staring at the floor.

"Feliciano?" Jenny stood up. "Are you alright, darling?"

Feliciano's shoulders began to shake. "I... I don't want to go."

"Aww, sweetheart." Jenny moved around the desk, putting her arm around the Italian's shoulders. "No one's making you leave. In the end, the decision is yours."

They both looked up when they heard the door to the office slam. Lovino had gone.

* * *

**End Note: ARSEHOLES ON TOAST! My updates are slipping. I'm ever so sorry. Life has been hectic, as usual. Also, was at Cardiff Con today, so if any of you were there I was dressed as Jane the Killer and I was with a Jeff, Terezi, Ed (from Ed, Edd and Eddy), Fem!Batman, SuperHeta and Punisher. And Jack, but he didn't cosplay. It was awesome!**  
**Okay, I want you all to go and vote in the poll on my profile! The result of the poll won't effect the story, but I want to know your opinion, kay?**  
**The song for this chapter is Torinoko City by Kaito Shion.**  
**~Lolly xXx**


	36. I'll Follow You

A week had slowly chugged passed, and still Lovino was refusing to speak to his brother, nor would he let him in their bedroom, which meant Feliciano was currently sleeping in Ludwig's room.

Jenny was at her wit's end. The court case was in two days and from what they'd said, neither brother knew what to do. Lovino wanted to go back to live with their grandfather, Feliciano didn't, but neither wanted to be separated. They both kept asking Jenny for advise, but what was she supposed to say? All she could say was that it was entirely up to them.

With a sigh, the care worker set down her coffee and began to type an email. The court had requested she send in her opinion on the boys current mental and emotional state and whether or not she thought it would be good for them to go back into their grandfather's care right now.

She typed a few words. Then deleted them. Then typed some more. Then deleted again. Then lather, rinse, repeat.

She gave a frustrated groan, putting her head down on the desk. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

Alfred was infamous at Apple Tree House for turning his stereo all the way up and singing loudly and ever-so-slightly off key.

Which is exactly what he was doing when Matthew entered their room that afternoon.

"All the ladies love my movements and my talented voice~" he sang.

Matthew chuckled, joining in, in the correct key. "And if I wasn't your roomie, I would complain 'bout the noise."

Alfred turned and smiled at his twin. "This raccoon is popping bottles, Blue is dropping the beat. I need the Heimlich right away." he sang, jumping up onto his bed, followed by Matthew as they both stood back to back and sang the next line on top of their lungs. "I THINK I SWALLOWED A BEE!"

"WILL YOU TWO PLEASE SHUT UP?!" yelled Ludwig from the next room.

Alfred and Matthew collapsed on the bed, laughing uncontrollably. It took them about three minutes to actually calm down.

"So," Matthew said, after finally getting his chuckles under control. "Do you know what's going on with the Italians?"

Alfred raised an eyebrow. "Why am I always your source for gossip?" he asked.

"Because you always want to know everyone's business and have quite the nack for obtaining it. Now tell me why Feli's sleeping in Ludwig's bedroom." replied Matthew, swiftly.

With a huff, Alfred reached over and turned down the stereo, which was still blaring. "'Kay," he muttered, crossing his legs. "The long and short of it is, Lovi and Feli's grandfather is trying to get them back, Lovi wants to go, Feli doesn't and Lovi's not talking to Feli until he 'comes to his senses,' but I think Lovi is just being a dramatic bitch again."

Matthew tapped his brother's nose. "Alfred, don't say such horrid things." he scolded.

* * *

Elizabeta smiled to herself as she ran her fingers through the soft, shiny hair of her self-appointed son. "I bet all the girls here would kill for hair like yours." she said.

Feliciano tipped his head back, looking up at his 'mama' with a quiet giggle.

"So," Elizabeta shifted, pulling Feliciano further onto her lap. "have you decided what you're going to do, yet?" she asked, brushing her fingers back through auburn hair.

Feliciano's expression became gloomy. "I don't want to go back." he said, cuddling further into Eliza. "I don't want to leave you and papa and Ludwig and Kiku and everyone. I know everyone better than I know Nonno. But I don't want me and Lovi to be apart." He began to sniff quietly, tears gathering in his eyes.

Elizabeta wrapped her arms around him, regretting asking.

"I-I don't know what to do." sobbed the Italian, shaking his head. "Tell me what to do." He looked up at the Hungarian through his fringe.

For a split second, Eliza thought she could actually hear her heart breaking. She hated seeing Feli cry. "I can't tell you what to do, honey."

"Y-Yes, you can!" argued Feliciano. "You're my mama. Mamas always tell their kids what to do!"

Elizabeta sighed. Feliciano had made a decent point. "I'm sorry, baby." she whispered, pressing a kiss to his forehead.

The two lay in near-silence for a while, before a call from the doorway caught their attention.

"There you are."

It was Roderich.

"Papa!" Feliciano jumped up, rushing over to the Austrian and winding his arms around his waist. "Tell me whether I should stay or go and live with Nonno." he said, staring up at his 'papa' with wide, unblinking eyes.

Roderich, uncomfortable with the sudden, unneeded contact, managed to pry the Italian off him. "Personally, I think you should stay." he said, simply, moving passed Feliciano and sitting beside Eliza, who was giving him the deadliest glare she could muster.

With a nod, Feliciano darted from the room, off to tell Jenny that he was staying.

As soon as his footsteps where out of earshot, Elizabeta stood up and slapped Roderich across the face. Hard.

"What on _earth_ was that for?" yelled Roderich, jumping to his feet.

"You can't just tell him that! You flipping _idiot_!" Elizabeta hissed.

"Why not?" asked Roderich. "He asked my what to do, I told him what I think he should do."

"Because if he stays here and regrets it, he's going to blame you."

"And I'd willing accept the blame. I honestly think he should stay."

"So do I." Elizabeta folded her arms. "But you're supposed to let him make his own decision."

"And if he decided to leave?"

Elizabeta paused, sitting back down. "I'd be upset. I'd miss him ever so much." she sighed. "But I'd be happy knowing that he was happy."

Roderich smiled, taking a seat next to the Hungarian. "You really are the biggest mother hen." he chuckled.

* * *

**End Note: So, this is going to have more chapters than I thought, but I'm certainly not complaining. Bad news on the oneshots front, I'm afraid. Due to the worst case of writers block I've ever had, I don't think I'm going to be able to do them, or if I do, they'll be stupidly short. Feel free to wag your fingers at me.  
****Anyone who can correctly identify the song that Al and Mattie were singing is awesome!  
****The song for this chapter is I'll Follow You by Shinedown.  
****~Lolly xXx**


	37. Last Night, Good Night

The morning of the court case, Feliciano did not feel well at all.

He woke up, alone in Ludwig's bed. Where Ludwig was, he didn't know. He sat up, stretching forwards, like a cat. He even mewled quietly for effect, even though there was nobody in the room. It was largely to amuse himself, anyway.

The last thing he wanted to do was get out of bed, but he knew he had to. He had to get up, get dressed and get on with the day.

With a sigh, he threw the covers off and tumbled out of the bed, landing on his knees. It took him ages to get dressed, but when he'd finally managed to get his jeans on the right way, he made his way down to the kitchen.

He collapsed onto a chair, letting his head fall against the table.

"You look bloody awful." commented Arthur, getting up and placing a hand against the back of Feliciano's neck. "And you're frightfully warm."

Feliciano managed to grumble one sentence in four different languages and put his arms over his head.

Arthur sighed, sitting next to him and rubbing his back in a comforting gesture. "Feli, if you aren't feeling all too grand, go back to bed." he soothed.

"M'kay." croaked the Italian.

Arthur was about to speak when Ludwig walked into the room.

"Feli?"

Feliciano peeked up at the German.

With a frown, Ludwig put his hand beside Arthur's on Feliciano's back. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nuffin." was the muttered reply.

Ludwig looked at Arthur for an explanation. "I think he's a little under the weather." said the Brit.

"Then he should go back to bed."

Feli groaned. "But I'm already up now." he whined.

Ludwig folded his arms. "I don't care." he said. "Bed."

With a few muttered complaints, Feliciano got up and dragged himself back up to Ludwig's room.

"Well, that was strange." commented Arthur, going back to his tea. "Did he seem a little... off to you?"

Ludwig sighed, sitting on Feliciano's now vacant seat. "The court case is today." he replied.

Bringing his teacup up to his lips, Arthur hummed quietly. Choosing between blood relations and who he thought were his real family wasn't difficult for him, but he understood why it may be difficult for the Italian twins.

"He's already told Jenny that he wants to stay, but..." Ludwig lent his head rest against his hand. "I think he's starting to regret his decision."

Taking a sip of his tea, Arthur shook his head. "I don't think he regrets it, per say." he said, placing his cup back on the table. "I think he really does want to stay, but he doesn't want to be here without Lovino." He gave a sad smile. It was the same with himself and Peter.

Ludwig gave another drawn out sigh. "If Lovino goes, Feli's going to be inconsolable." he said.

"If Lovino goes, _Antonio _is going to be inconsolable."

Ludwig couldn't help but smile at that.

* * *

Speaking of Antonio, as this was occurring he was trying to talk to Lovino. Trying to. So far, Lovino had done all the talking.

"...I mean, we've been waiting years, eight years, to be exact, for this exact thing to happen and he's all like '_oh, but Lovi, we have friends and everything is sunshine and rainbows!' _and it's like, what the literal fuck?! I've been wanting to go back since the day we left and I fucking know he has too, so why is he being like this? He's driving me round the fucking bend and... Are you even listening to me?"

Antonio sat bolt upright. "Of course I am." he said, even though he'd been drifting in and out since the beginning of this rant. "But Lovi, I really think you should try talking to Feli about this instead of ranting to me."

Lovino bit his lip. What good would come of talking to Feliciano? He'd just get frustrated again and storm off.

With a small smile, Antonio pulled Lovino into his lap. "Try talking to your brother, Lovi." he said. "Please? For me?"

"I'm not going to do it for _you_!" Lovino snapped back, before falling quiet for a few seconds. "But... I will talk to him..."

* * *

Romulus' whole world spun with two words.

"_Custody granted._"

He didn't think he'd ever been this happy. He'd never smiled this much in his life. From across the room, he noticed Jennifer Dale giving him a smile, but it didn't seem to reach her eyes. Not that he noticed.

When everyone had left the courtroom, Jenny caught up with Romulus. "I suppose you'll want to come to the house and see the boys?" she asked.

Still smiling, Romulus nodded eagerly. Words seemed to fail him.

"You can tail me, okay?" called Jenny, getting into her car.

Romulus climbed into his own car and followed the care worker as she drove away.

* * *

"Feli!" Lovino slammed Ludwig's bedroom door open. He's been looking high and low for his brother before the damn German informed his that he'd gone back to bed.

Feliciano sat up, rubbing his eyes. "_Si_?"

"We need to talk."

Nodding in agreement, Feliciano shimmied up until he was sat against the headboard.

Lovino climbed onto the bed, not bothering to take his shoes off because he knew Ludwig would have a fit if he knew. "About going home."

With another nod, Feliciano bit his lip.

"I really want to go. But I'm not going anywhere without you, so—"

"Lovi," Feliciano lay his hand on his brother's arm. "I'll go."

"What?" Lovino blinked.

"I'll go." repeated Feliciano. "As long as I can come back here whenever I want."

Lovino smiled, wrapping his arms around Feliciano.

* * *

Even as he pulled up outside Apple Tree House, Romulus was still smiling ear to ear. He followed Jenny up to the door, literally shaking with anticipation as she unlocked the door and stepped inside.

Jenny unwrapped her scarf from her neck and hung it on a coat peg. "Lovino. Feliciano." she called into the hall.

"They're up in my room." said Ludwig, who was sitting on the stairs trying to comfort Antonio, who feeling a little sorry for himself. He didn't want Lovino to leave, but he'd always visit, right? He'd assured him that much.

"Could you get them for me, Ludwig?" asked Jenny.

With a nod, Ludwig got up and left, leaving Antonio to sulk.

Jenny frowned. "What's wrong with you?" she asked.

Antonio opened his mouth to ramble on about how much he was going to miss Lovino, but changed his mind when he noticed a man who could only be the twins' grandfather. "Nothing." he muttered.

Deciding not to press the subject, she gave Antonio the "we'll talk later" look as Ludwig came back down the stairs followed by the twins.

Lovino's eyes widened at the sight of his grandfather. "Nonno!" he yelled, rushing towards Romulus with outstretched arms, Feliciano following after.

Romulus gathered them both up in his arms, tears welling in his eyes as he held his precious boys again for the first time in eight years. "I've missed you both so much!" he sobbed. "You're both coming home, aren't you?" he asked.

Lovino and Feliciano nodded, smiling brightly. "As long as we can visit our friends whenever we want."

Romulus froze, looking back towards Jenny. "You haven't told them?" he asked.

With a cough, Jenny shook her head. "I thought it would be better coming from you." she replied.

"Told us what?" asked the twins, in unison.

Romulus set them back on their feet. "I'm taking you back to Italy."

* * *

**End note: ...I have no words. Next chapter is the conclusion and the chapter after that is the epilogue. Keep your eyes open for them.  
****The song for this chapter is Last Night, Good Night by Kaito Shion.  
****~Lolly xXx**


	38. No Place Like Home

"W-What?" Feliciano's smile fell. "But, we can't..." he trailed off.

Lovino glanced over to Antonio, who looked like he was about to cry.

Jenny cleared her throat. "Why don't we talk about this in the office." she said, turning and guiding Romulus and the twins towards her office.

Chewing the sleeve of his jacket, Antonio watched Lovino walk away. As soon as the office door closed, Antonio folded his arms over his knees and rested his head atop them.

With a quiet sigh, Ludwig awkwardly placed a hand on the Spaniard's back.

Antonio shrugged his hand off, getting up and storming off to his room without a word.

He slammed his bedroom door and climbed onto his bed, crossing his legs and pulling the quilt over his head.

"Antonio?"

Damn. He hadn't noticed that Francis was in the room, laying on his stomach on his own bed, a book laying open in front of him.

"Antonio, what's the matter?" asked Francis, moving to sit on the bed next to his room mate.

Rubbing his eyes, Antonio shook his head. "Italy." he muttered.

Francis raised an eyebrow. "Context, please?"

Antonio tugged the quilt further around himself, wiping away more tears as the threatened to fall. "L-Lovino's grandfather is t-taking him and Feliciano to Italy." he choked, tucking himself away in his quilt.

"What?" Francis' eyes widened. "And they're going?"

"They're in the o-office talking about it."

"So, you don't know, then?"

Antonio shrugged.

With a sigh, Francis pulled the quilt off his room mate. "Then what are you crying about?"

"H-haven't you been listening?"

"Haven't _you_?"

When he got no reply, Francis folded his arms. "They're in the office talking about it, so they probably haven't decided yet. It's a bit silly to get upset over something that might not even happen."

Antonio sniffed, nodding slowly.

That's when they heard footsteps rushing up the stairs, passed their door and into the room three doors down.

Lovino and Feliciano's bedroom.

Antonio's gaze shifted from Francis to the door and back again.

Giving another short sigh, Francis got up and went back to his book. "Go and talk to him." he said.

Antonio bit his lip, thinking over what he would say. He rubbed his eyes a few more times before getting up and making his way to the bedroom Lovino shared with Feliciano.

"Lovino!"

He caught the attention of both twins, but Feliciano quickly looked away, going back to packing.

_Packing._

Antonio felt his heart clench painfully. "Lovi..." He kept moving forward, grabbing the elder twin by the shoulders. "Say you're not leaving!"

Lovino tore himself out of the Spaniard's grasp. "What does it look like?" he muttered.

Antonio's eyes filled with tears. "But, I... I don't want you to leave."

Lovino tutted. "I thought you said you wouldn't mind it."

"That was when I thought you were only going to a different part of town, not to Italy!" Tears had started running down Antonio's cheeks again. "I might never see you again. How would I ever manage without you?"

"You got on fine before." was Lovino's response.

More hot tears spilled down Antonio's face. "But, I—"

"Antonio." Lovino turned with a glare. "We _are_going to Italy with Nonno."

"I—"

Lovino's hand shot up, silencing the weeping Spaniard. "For a holiday. Then we're coming back."

Antonio froze. He still had tears streaming down his face and his heart felt like it had been thrown into reverse. He didn't know what his feelings were doing. "A... A holiday?" he croaked.

"Two weeks." confirmed Lovino.

Without a second thought, Antonio threw himself at the elder Italian, pulling him into the tightest hug he could possibly manage.

Lovino stiffened, but didn't try to push the Spaniard away. "So, um..." he muttered awkwardly. "Can I finish packing now?"

Antonio laughed quietly, letting go of Lovino and leaving him and Feli to pack.

* * *

The whole of Apple Tree House, residents and care workers, gathered outside to see the boys off.

Feliciano refused to let go of Ludwig's waist. "I'm going to miss you so, so, _so_ much!" he whined, burying his face in the German's chest.

"It's just for two weeks, Feliciano." muttered Ludwig, trying to ease the Italian's koala-like grip off him.

Sticking out his bottom lip, Feliciano peeked up at his best friend through his fringe. "But... Aren't you going to miss me?" He sniffled for effect.

"O-of course, I am!" Ludwig spluttered, awkwardly returning Feliciano's hug.

Gilbert laughed, joining the hug. "Way to make him uncomfortable, Feli-Fairy."

"Do you still call him that?" Lovino glared.

"Aww, do you want a nickname too?"

"We can call you Lovi-Lemon." Ivan suggested with a wide smile.

Antonio wrapped his arms around Lovino before he had a chance to shout. "You guys are stupid, everyone knows his nickname is _Tomate_." he said.

"THAT'S THE FIRST I'VE HEARD OF THIS!"

Feliciano giggled as his brother struggled out of Antonio's hold, yelling in a garbled mix of English and Italian. He gasped when he felt someone pull him into a hug.

"I'm going to miss you very much, dear." said Elizabeta, as she began fussing with his fringe.

With a smile, Feliciano returned her hug. "I'll miss you too, mama. But like Ludwig said, it's only two weeks."

Elizabeta smiled, pressing a kiss to her self-appointed son's cheek. She turned to Lovino, who'd only just managed to free himself of Antonio. "Don't think you're escaping!" she chuckled, pulling him in for a hug. "I'll miss you, too." she bent down, kissing his cheek.

Lovino rubbed the spot she'd kissed with his sleeve. "I might miss you, as well..." he shifted awkwardly before standing up in his tip toes and whispering in her ear. "Mama."

Pulling away and taking a step back, Elizabeta covered her mouth, tears coming to her eyes. She smiled, wiping her eyes. "I'm a bit overwhelmed." she whispered, leaning back on Roderich, who curled an arm around her.

"Well," Lovino grabbed hold of Feliciano's hand. "I guess... we'll see you all in two weeks."

The twins climbed into the back of their grandfather's car, waving and watching the others wave back out the back window.

Two weeks to go until they'd be back home.

* * *

**End note: Only the epilogue left now, guys. I hope the ending has left everyone happy.  
****The song for this chapter is No Place Like Home by Marianas Trench.  
****~Lolly xXx**


	39. Apple Seeds

This isn't really an update, but it is relevant to the story. Because I'm not doing the oneshots, I thought I'd share my ideas for the residents pasts in this chapter.

Lovino and Feliciano. Their parents were killed in a car crash when they were five. Romulus took them in after that, but he was out a lot, and used to leave the boys with a bunch of different babysitters. When the boys were seven, social services got involved. Romulus fought tooth and nail to keep his grandsons, but they were taken into care nonetheless.  
I really wanted to steer clear of the overused Mafia connection.  
I know the boys aren't actually twins, the reason I made them twins here was because I wanted them to have that close bond.

Gilbert and Ludwig. I've gone into detail about their past, but just to summarise, their mother was a drug addict, as well as a heavy drinker, so she'd completely black out and not even notice the fact that her husband beat her sons so badly that Gilbert couldn't move without flinching. Gilbert always tried his hardest to make sure Ludwig didn't get it too bad, but there was only so much he could do.

Antonio. His mother passed away when he was young, and his father couldn't cope with him. He tried giving him to a family member, but no one would take him in. So, Antonio ended up in a care home. It was supposed to be until his father got back on his feet, however, he hung himself shortly after. Antonio doesn't know this, he just thinks his father didn't want him.

Francis' past became a plot point, however, I didn't explain everything to you, so a lot of you ended up hating poor Claudette. Like Antonio, Francis' stay at Apple Tree House was only meant to be temporary. Claudette didn't want to put him into care in the first place, but Francis' father basically told her if she didn't put Francis into care, he'd leave her. Keeping in mind that Claudette was only sixteen when she had Francis—so she was twenty-three when he was put into care—she had no idea how to raise a child on her own. All her family was back in France and had long since disowned her for running away with Francis' father. So basically, she was bullied into giving Francis up. When she promised to come and get him, she had every intention on keeping her promise, but her husband kept her from doing so. When Monique was born, Francis' father tried to make Claudette give her up too, but Claudette stood up for herself and divorced him. It took her from the time Monique was a baby to when she was six years old to pluck up the courage to finally contact her son.

Arthur and Peter. Their father left shortly after Peter was born, so their mother had to raise them alone. The stress got to her, and she turned to drugs as a sort of stress-relief. What started out as the odd joint now and again became a serious heroine addiction, and eventually, Arthur was the one who had to take care of Peter. When it all became too much, Arthur packed up their things and took his brother to a care home. After telling the care workers about his life at home, social services did a thorough investigation and decided that their mother was unfit to care for them. When they tried contacting their father, he wasn't interested.

Alfred and Matthew. Their parents had a very unstable relationship. They'd argue all the time and eventually it got to the point where their father started beating their mother. Their family life was incredibly uneasy from then on. They used to hide their arguments from their sons, but they didn't after that. One night, Alfred got fed up with his father beating his mother and he phoned the police. By the time the police got to their house, their mother was already dead. Alfred and Matthew were taken into care, and their father was arrested.

Yekaterina, Ivan and Natalya. Their past took me a while to think up. I don't know what it was, but I couldn't seem to get a good enough idea for them. Eventually, I settled for the stereotypical "Russian gangster" approach. Their father tried to walk away when he met his first wife, but as we all know, that never ends well. They traced him to Ukraine and while they were trying to get away, Yekaterina's mother was killed. He managed to save four-year-old Yekaterina, but just barely. He moved back to Lodeynoye Pole, a small town in Russia. He married a local woman and shortly after, Ivan was born. A few days before Ivan turned six, they were found again. Their father had taken them out for a day, so Ivan's mother was the only one home, therefore she was the only one to lose her life. Their father took them to Belarus after that, where he married again. When Natalya was born, they settled, believing they were safe. However, they were found and this time both their father and Natalya's mother were killed. By this time, Yekaterina was old enough to get her siblings away safely. Like the Vargas brothers, they were moved around a few care homes before they settled in Apple Tree House.

Kiku. His parents were murdered when he was four. His home was broken into when a thief mistakenly assumed that nobody was home. Kiku's mother hid him away when she heard a noise, so his parents' murderer wasn't even aware that Kiku existed. After that, he lived with his elderly aunt for three years before her death. Having no living relatives left, Kiku ended up in care.

Elizabeta. When she was six her mother get fed up with her father's cheating and left him, leaving Elizabeta behind, too. Eliza's father always wanted a son and thought his daughter wasn't worth his time. He'd go out and leave her in the house by herself. When Elizabeta turned ten she phoned social services claiming that her father was neglecting her. Her case was investigated and she was taken into care.

Roderich. His mother was another teenage pregnancy case. When she told Roderich's father that she was pregnant, he left her. When Roderich was a few months old she figured out that the best thing for him would be to go into care. However, at that point in her life, Roderich was all she had to live for. As soon as she knew Roderich was safe, she killed herself.

Vash and Lili. Their past is very similar to Gilbert and Ludwig's, however no matter how much Vash tried to protect her, Lili ended up getting the brunt of it. Their mother would purposely hold Vash back so he couldn't do anything. A comment was made by Lili's teacher and social services were called and it was decided that they would be better off in care.

Well, now you know all the resident's pasts in detail. If you wouldn't mind. There's a poll up on my page asking who, in your opinion, has the saddest past. I'd really like to know what you think.  
A huge apology is in order, but the final chapter should be uploaded soon, so please be patient for a little while longer!  
This chapter is called Apple Seeds, because that's what I was going to name the series of oneshots.  
All my love,  
~Lolly xXx


	40. Welcome Home

**Quick Note:** Before I start, I just want to apologise for being so late with this! I know I'm a shite and left you all waiting for ages, but I had writers block like you wouldn't believe! Doubled with new plot ideas punching me in the brain and unemployment-related stress, I simply could not win. So, all of my sorries and I'll get on with the chapter now.

* * *

Two weeks came and went, and the twins returned to Apple Tree House.

Through the windows of their grandfather's car, the twins could see some of their friends waiting for them.

The car pulled up and Feliciano flew out of the back seat and trapped Ludwig and Kiku in a group hug.

"Hey, don't leave me out." whined Gilbert, coiling his arms around the trio.

Kiku, who'd never been a big fan of physical contact, stiffened. "P-Please let me go." he muttered.

"Feli, come and get your damn luggage." yelled Lovino.

With a chuckle, Romulus tousled his eldest grandson's hair. "I'll get the bags. Go and say hello to your friends."

Lovino pouted, turning away from the car. He only made it three steps before Antonio tackle-hugged him. "Lovi! I've missed you like you'd never believe! I'm so glad you're back!" he rambled.

"T-Toni... Can't breathe..." Lovino struggled in the Spaniard's grasp.

Antonio loosened his grip, but didn't let Lovino go. "Lo siento. I just missed you so much." he cooed. "Did you miss me too?"

With a scoff, Lovino pushed himself away from his friend. "Of course I didn't." he spat.

"Don't lie, Lovino." chided Romulus, appearing behind Lovino and setting his bags down. He lay a hand on his grandson's shoulder. "All he was talking about for the whole two weeks was 'I wonder how Antonio is', 'Antonio would love it here', 'We have to take lots of pictures to show Antonio.'"

Lovino's face had never been so red in his life. "Shut your mouth, old man." he grumbled, turning his head away.

Antonio chuckled. "Aww, I'm glad you missed me, Lovi."

* * *

As soon as everyone was inside, Jenny ushered the boys and Romulus into her office.

"I wonder what's going to happen now." mused Ludwig.

"What do you mean?" Antonio already didn't like where this was going,

"Well, they obviously enjoyed their time in Italy. They might change their minds and want to live there after all."

Antonio sighed, lying his head on the table. "That's what I was afraid of." he muttered.

Ludwig frowned, getting up to make some coffee for the distraught Spaniard. "You really like Lovino, don't you?"

"Well, yeah..." Antonio began drawing swirling patterns on the table with his finger. "I know it sounds strange, but Lovino has been the only person I feel I can really talk to." he replied. "But, it's the same with you and Feli, right?"

Finishing the cups of coffee, Ludwig carried them back over to the table. "Something like that." He sighed. "Before Feliciano came the only real friend I had besides my brother was Kiku, and I always felt really awkward talking to him about things. Feliciano is different. He's not just a good listener, he makes me feel better."

Antonio opened his mouth to respond, only to be cut off by the sound of a loud goodbye being called from the front entrance.

Shortly after, the twins walked in, both of them smiling happily and talking to each other in rapid fire Italian. The sat across from each other at the table, ending their conversation.

"So, has anything interesting happened while we were away?" asked Feliciano.

Antonio shrugged. "Francis lives with his mother and Monique now."

"He does?"

"Ja," Ludwig replied. "He stayed over there as a trail run for a few days and decided he was staying. He visits a lot, though."

* * *

At that moment, Francis was sat on his bed with Monique, showing her some of his favourite photographs from the photo album Jenny had made him.

"Who's that, Frannie?" asked Monique, her finger falling on a picture of two boys, one looking very unamused with the other draped over him, smiling widely.

Francis chuckled. "That's Antonio and Lovino." he replied.

With a quiet hum, Monique lay back against her brother's chest. "Don't you miss your friends, Frannie?" she asked, looking over the glossy photographs of the people Francis once shared a home with.

"All the time," Francis turned the page, chuckling at a picture of him and Arthur playing tennis. "But Apple Tree House isn't far from here. I can visit whenever I like."

"Next time you visit, can I come?"

Francis pressed a kiss to the six year old's cheek. "Of course you can!"

* * *

Later that day, Antonio and Lovino were sat in Antonio's bedroom. Just sitting there, doing nothing.

"So, what's going to happen with your grandfather, now?" asked the Spaniard. "Are you just never going to see him again?"

"We're going to fly over to Italy for holidays." replied Lovino, swinging his legs. "Like Christmas and birthdays and stuff." He let himself fall backwards. "Are you glad to have me back?"

Antonio lay down next to him, pulling him into a cuddle. "Of course I am. Did you have a good time, though?" he asked.

Lovino gave a rare smile. "I did." he responded. "It wasn't like when we were kids. Nonno was different. He was with us all the time."

"Maybe he realised his mistake. He saw it as a second chance."

"No." Lovino turned to his side, facing Antonio. "If he thinks this is a second chance, he's an idiot. No matter what, we won't be able to get those years we spent in care back."

Antonio sighed. "I'm sorry you've had such a hard life, Lovi."

"I'm not."

"Que?" Antonio seemed genuinely surprised.

Lovino smiled at him. "If I hadn't been taken into care, I would never have met you." he said.

Antonio beamed, pulling Lovino as close to him as possible. "Awww, when did my Lovi become such a sweetie? That was so cute!"

Lovino's face burned. "G-Get the hell off me!"

He hadn't changed that much.

* * *

That night, as usual, Feliciano climbed into Lovino's bed, curled up next to his brother and put his thumb in his mouth. They lay in silence for a while, trying to sleep.

"Hey, Lovi." Feliciano's thumb being in his mouth gave him a lisp.

"What is it, Feli?"

"We kind of have two families now, don't we?"

Lovino smiled, hugging his brother closer. "Yeah," he whispered. "We do."

A care home is like a family. There's arguments, tension and drama, but at the end of the day, everyone loves and supports each other.

It could be said that Apple Tree House, with it's pale green walls and red painted windowsills, housed one of the closest, happiest families in the world.

* * *

**End note: That's it. That's the end. I want to thank every single one of you who made it this far and I hope you guys all enjoyed reading this. I never thought this would become as popular as it is, nor did I think it would be as long as it is but we've come a long way, haven't we? I just want to let you all know that, if I could hug you all individually, I would and I am actually crying as I type this. I love you guys so much and I hope I'll see you again soon!  
****The song for this chapter is Welcome Home by Radical Face.  
****~Lolly xXx**


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